Race Day Thoughts.

A few weeks ago, I was humbled by an event many months (maybe years) in the making – my first full Ironman. After years of dedication to a healthier lifestyle, restoring my passion for cycling, and navigating the world of physical fitness, this was more than a race – it was a life milestone. I won’t dive deep into the details – it’s a triathlon in which the distances for each of the three sports are set specifically to test the limit of what a human can endure in one day.

During the race you have a lot of time to think. Mostly you think about how much every part of your body hurts and continually try not to answer the question of why you signed up for this ridiculous thing in the first place. I did however have three outstanding thoughts which seemed to apply to endurance racing and life in general. Simple but important, I thought I might share them with you all.

1) Starting lines are tougher to get to than finish lines. Every single person you talk to about an Ironman will ask the same question, “which part was the toughest?”. The answer is quite easy – the training. There is great sacrifice and dedication to all of the adversity of endurance training: 4am wake ups, broken bones, torn muscles, road rash, missed social engagements, lack of family time, blisters, toenails falling off, bleeding nipples, the list goes on and on. In life and in endurance racing – if you can get yourself to the starting line, well prepared mentally and physically, you will find a way to get to the finish line (baring circumstances outside your control). No matter how hard the challenge – the decision to take it on and the preparation it takes to get there is the ‘toughest part’.

2) Find the calm. Chaos is everywhere in a race like this. Not only do you have to switch sports three times, but things go wrong. Your stomach won’t always agree with you, a tire blown, goggles kicked off by the racer in front of you. On top of all that, you’re exerting energy for 12.5 hours (or longer), trying desperately to keep your heart rate down, your sugar and salt levels up, staying focused, taking in calories, staying hydrated, OH – and you need to run, bike and swim. Chaos. A friend told me early in my training – “find the calm”. Keep coming back to a centered place where you can think rationally, breathe, and assess. Such is the case with life too – chaos is everywhere and finding the calm in it all is a practice that endurance racing has helped me start. Between your work, relationships, parenting, and all the other moving parts – look for ‘the calm’ it will help you get through the chaos.

3) You can’t do it alone. Support is everything in racing and in life. As tough as you are, as physically and mentally strong, as fast, as talented, as brave – you need support. It might be a friend, a loved one, a coach, or even just a race day volunteer. But along your path you will need help. Welcome it. Be grateful for it. I would not have come close to that finish line without Team Forward (the branded nickname for my family/friend support crew). I now look for support in everything I do. Who is your team – your crew? Thank them and return the love.

So that’s it. Three simple, but important lessons learned during my 12 hours and 37 minutes on the course: 1) starting lines are tougher than finish lines, 2) find the calm, and 3) support is everything. A few of my favorite photos are included. Thank you to everyone (my family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, athletes, coaches, etc.) who support me through the training, the constant race talk, the schedule misses, the morning sessions, the injuries, the failures and for celebrating with me when it was over. Thank you.

Forward.