Confessions from a man on the verge…
by Charles @ The long road to Ironman
I haven’t written anything here in ages and there is a reason for that. I have been in denial. There was no way to write a blog entry without facing the fact that the race is right on top of me and facing what that means, but the question is, what does that mean?
It means that I am a mess. I haven’t been able to sleep through the night in a week (so I am a zombie now), my eating schedule is all screwed up (either starving or no appetite), and I am terrified of this race. I put on the happy face and tell everyone that I am ready but to be honest I have never felt like this before a race. I have been under trained before and I’ve been unprepared before but even when I couldn’t swim I was never this nervous pre-race. The odd thing is that I don’t know why I am scared. I have my race plan and I have done all of the visualization exercises to prep for the race. Finishing the race is something that I really think I can do and even if the worse case happens and I don’t finish, I really think that I can be satisfied with all of the progress I have made this year -I improved my swim PR in the Olympic Tri from 2 hours to 56 minutes, I’ve done my first 100+ mile bike rides, I’ve learned to use my Aerobars, and I no longer fear open water swimming at all.
What is the absolute worst thing that can happen? Well I guess I could be attacked a pack of wild dogs while on the bike, but barring that the worst thing that can happen is that I don’t finish. While that would suck, it would not be the first time that I failed to finish a race, so what’s the big deal?!?!
I don’t know but I really think it is the anticipation... the waiting and dreading. I really think that once I am there and the waiting is over I will feel better but until then... I guess I will just focus on the advice that I got from Tri-Geek Kahuna's blog "enjoy the hell out of the experience, enjoy the hell out of the day. It's your day. You are the star. Enjoy"
It means that I am a mess. I haven’t been able to sleep through the night in a week (so I am a zombie now), my eating schedule is all screwed up (either starving or no appetite), and I am terrified of this race. I put on the happy face and tell everyone that I am ready but to be honest I have never felt like this before a race. I have been under trained before and I’ve been unprepared before but even when I couldn’t swim I was never this nervous pre-race. The odd thing is that I don’t know why I am scared. I have my race plan and I have done all of the visualization exercises to prep for the race. Finishing the race is something that I really think I can do and even if the worse case happens and I don’t finish, I really think that I can be satisfied with all of the progress I have made this year -I improved my swim PR in the Olympic Tri from 2 hours to 56 minutes, I’ve done my first 100+ mile bike rides, I’ve learned to use my Aerobars, and I no longer fear open water swimming at all.
What is the absolute worst thing that can happen? Well I guess I could be attacked a pack of wild dogs while on the bike, but barring that the worst thing that can happen is that I don’t finish. While that would suck, it would not be the first time that I failed to finish a race, so what’s the big deal?!?!
I don’t know but I really think it is the anticipation... the waiting and dreading. I really think that once I am there and the waiting is over I will feel better but until then... I guess I will just focus on the advice that I got from Tri-Geek Kahuna's blog "enjoy the hell out of the experience, enjoy the hell out of the day. It's your day. You are the star. Enjoy"