Endurance Sports: You get what you train for...
Everyone wants to achieve their personal best when they race regardless if that means crossing the finish line first, or just crossing the finish. Whether people say the words out loud or not, they certainly have a goal time, place, or performance in mind when they are competing. A common ambition of athletes who have begun to reach their personal goals is to decide you want to place in your age group in an Ironman or 70.3 Ironman. While this is an awesome goal (that most of us at Mission Multisport entertain in at least some way), below are some of the pitfalls that come with this and similar goals:
1) You get what you train for…
Your performance goals aren’t achieved randomly. I know that sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how many people think they can run a marathon faster than a pace they train. If you want to run a half marathon in 90 minutes but have never practiced intervals faster than 6:52 minutes per mile in training I have bad news for you, you’re likely going to fall short of your goal. The training that you do needs to reflect your goals.
2) Don’t stalk the start line.
You’re a competitor, it’s one of the reasons why you race, so it’s easy to fall into the trap of looking at past performances and times to see how you will stack up in a race. The problem is every race is radically different, even the same course year after year is a different race. The weather will be different, the athletes will be different, the dynamics of the race will be different and you will also be different!
Once upon a time I was craving an overall win to the point where it took a lot of enjoyment out of racing. I stalked every starting line, looked up the athletes ranking on USAT to see how I compared and then would decide if I should sign up for that specific race. I walked into a transition one morning in 2017 believing, without a shadow of a doubt, I was taking this win. And then it happened...an athlete I knew, who I’d never beaten, showed up on a whim and registered that morning. Right away I reassessed - now I was just going to have to be second place at best. Ultimately, I did come in second, but was that because I had beaten myself mentally before the start or because I wasn’t capable of beating that athlete on that day? The moral of that story is you can only control you and from the moment you sign up until you cross the finish line you have to race your race. I’ve never won a race while seeking a win, only when I raced for myself and to do my best have I won.
3) The oxymoron of the “easy Ironman”
You’ll hear about this concept a lot if you’re in the sport long enough...there are even entire websites dedicated to tracking data on it. When athletes are willing and ready to complete a full distance triathlon they’ll often look for a race that they think will be the “easiest”. Usually this translates to; downstream swim, flat bike course and flat run course. This mentality will eliminate several triathlons that have absolutely beautiful courses, great local and volunteer support, and iconic finish lines. Don’t limit your options because your ego is worried about the time on the clock when you cross the finish line. If you’re worried about making the cut off times...see number 1… you get what you train for. Your best races are going to be the races you’ve trained and tapered properly for and are enjoying in the moment - and those won’t always be the pancake flat Eagleman.
Think, for example, of how Ironman Hamburg is one of the more historically beginner friendly races - calm lake swim; flat, fast and supported bike and run with a tremendous finish line. 2019 rolls around, brutally hot and windy. Non-wetsuit swim, cross winds on the bike, and sweltering run contributed to one of the higher DNF rates of Ironman races for the year. Only half of the pro-field was even able to finish. Can’t cherry pick your races.
4) Take the risk
““If you’re going to go faster than you’ve ever gone, it’s going to hurt worse than it’s ever hurt. Accept it.””
I think about this quote before every single race because regardless of your time or finishing place if you have a performance goal this statement holds true. You simply can’t expect to achieve your goals in this sport without dealing with some pain once in a while. Even if your goal is to just cross the finish of a full distance in 16:59:59...It’s not just going to be comfortable.
5) Ask your coach!
Hint hint, these are always going to come back to coaching and how, with the right coach, you can get the most out of yourself and your performances. Your coach can guide and advise based on all the data collected throughout the training block to come up with a race plan. A dialed in race plan that takes into consideration swim pacing and tactics, power zones on the bike and heart rate on the run will give you the confidence you need to get the most out of yourself.
Click HERE to see what our athletes have to say about being coached by Mission Multisport!
-Ben Rotherham
Head Coach, MIssion Multisport