Face Your Fears

I called an athlete of mine a couple of weeks ago. I heard him eating while we were talking about his development and attention to detail I have noticed in him over the past couple of months. I asked "what are you eating?" He replied, "white rice and egg whites". I said, "dude...it's 7 pm...for dinner?" He replied, "of course". He has a couple of kids and a wife there, and he's eating white rice and egg whites for dinner following an intense workout earlier that day. This guy is going to make the podium in an Ironman as a relative rookie. If he doesnt, he'll be damn close. I love athletes that listen and make such an effort to master those details that put them in an optimal position to get to Kona. Very few I've ever coached have this characteristic.

Face your fears. Yes I will admit. I was afraid going into this race. I realized my swim was average and bike was strong, but I really didnt have any idea how I would respond in the run. I did think about cancelling this race a couple of weeks ago, and just flying down to Florida for vacation. As I was in bed one night thinking about this I reminded myself that its not my unpreparedness that was deterring me. Its was the fear of failing in the task. I then realized that "failing" is relative and to me, just making an attempt can make you feel successful. The alternative is never making the attempt at all. Many athletes undermine their own race through training because of their fears. I dont think this is intentional. Athletes place their goal on such a high pedestal that it becomes a goal too difficult to obtain, and thus the journey becomes unmanageable. Kona qualifying for instance. Athetes will place such fear into their goal, they unintentionally over train, too many relentless miles on the bike, too much volume on the run, etc. By allowing their fears of failure obsure their goal, they over train in an attempt to reach it. I am not only talking about amateurs. I traveled to Boston marathon back in the early 1990's with my coach who was a 3 time Olympian in the marathon at the time. He was a dark horse to win, coming off a 4th overall at New York marathon earlier. He became fearful if his own ability, and it undermined his final preparation. He ran from the start of Boston in Hopkington to the 13.1 mile mark the Saturday prior to the race...in 1:02, at the time, 2 minutes slower then the American record in the half marathon. He became so obsessed with blowing his race, he over trained 48 hours before his event. He "blew up" with a 2:15 on race day and stated to me he felt tired the entire race.

Dont over-think your goals and your preparation. You would be surprised how many amateur athletes train with more overall volume than pro's. Yes, most of it is useless volume and wont teach you to race well. The other aspect of course is competing in the workout and "racing" well before your actual race day. Finally, the timing of intensity, cycles, etc are what pro's do best, and there is a huge difference amongst training in that aspect, compared to amateur athletes.

My fears of racing this past weekend, and deciding to do so anyway, knowing I would get likely lose the podium on the run, was reiterated by a voicemail I received from Grant Folske, who competing with me in Orlando 2 years ago and was 9 minutes behind me. Yes, ONLY 9 minutes behind me with a 4:38 on a very windy day, and with 2 weeks of swimming, 1 month of cycling and only a bit more running under his belt. Yet, he came down, we trash talked a bit before the race, and he gave it his best shot. Grant loves to compete, no matter where he is at his fitness level. It doesnt bother him if he gets beat up in an event on occasion because he is a confident athlete. He's not afraid. I was in my top fitness back in 2007 that day and Grant was only beginning the first month of his season. He of course kicks the crap out of me in many races since, but still, I love competing when he is in the race because it drives me to strive harder. We may have our pre-race trash talk, but always, the immediate pre race genuine good wishes for us both to have PR days. Grant is one of the few athletes ever in my life that I simply enjoy to out-compete. Yet, I enjoy it even more when he out-competes me.

Enjoy your ability to compete. On race day, it is what it will be. Dont undermine your own training because of unnecessary insecurities created through fear. Dont forget why you competed in your very first race.

Why do I keep going back to Orlando, with sub optimal conditions and course? Why compete in conditions I know will be difficult year after year? Why would I take a shot at winning my AG in my final year of the M40 division? It's about confronting your fears, and irrelevant of what the outcome may be, you will build character and strength.