Mindset & The Marbella 70.3 World Champs Course
Music blaring. Crowds roaring. The announcer’s voice booming over the microphone. The countdown was on. It would be just seconds before I dove into the cold waters of the Mediterranean Sea with over 200 other women in the 40-44 year old age group at the 70.3 Half Ironman World Champs in Marbella, Spain. As the final beep sounded, I ran into the sea to begin my journey of swim, bike, run.
To say I was a little apprehensive at the start would be a fair statement. The morning dawned cool and windy, and gentle waves were already visible in the semi-light as we all prepared to take on the race. The swim, my least favorite part of a triathlon, brought a bit of panic seeing the swells already forming this early in the morning. It was a panic I haven’t experienced in quite a while at a race.
Men’s race morning - Women raced the day before
I joined the hundreds of women racers and spectators along the path leading to the swim entry. I took my time pulling on my wetsuit, getting into the queue, and adjusting my goggles, all while trying to block out the music, the crowd, the cheerful announcer hyping up the Pro race that was about to start. I would be immediately following them. I was swept into the grouping of women my age and herded along the path to the archway, our start.
As I ran into the sea and took my first few strokes, I felt the cold water rush over my face, and saw the powerful swim strokes of other women motoring past. In that moment I felt a slight panic followed by my first negative thought: “I don’t want to do this anymore.” I swam. Sputtered. I tried to sight as a wave would tug me backward and then a swell would cause me to rise and fall and lose my momentum. I was NEVER going to get out of the water. I didn’t want to race. I allowed these thoughts to flow through my mind over and over on repeat. The more I wished I could quit, the more despair I felt. I was allowing myself to have a pity party instead of focusing on my swim stroke, my timing. I was never going to get to ride my bike!
Midway through the swim the thought occurred that I was going to make it out of the water. That contrary to what I was doing at the moment, I could actually somewhat swim. At that moment I made the decision to focus on the finish, and a turning point happened. Somehow I stopped worrying about each swell and focused on sighting when I was on top. I stopped thinking about dying in the Mediterranean and focused on trying to stay on the feet of the woman right in front of me. I chose to look toward the next buoy, and then the next, until I could see the exit archway. Finally, I was on land.
A bad mindset can get us in a load of trouble. It can cause unnecessary panic, irrational thinking, and take us out of the moment. So, how do we flip the switch? How do we take a bad mindset and make it good? In this instance for me, it was one thought that came into my head: I’m going to make it out of here! That was the turning point. But in order to flip that switch, I needed to make the conscious decision to focus on that (the getting out of the water) instead of the I don’t want to be here attitude I was clinging to. Which brings me to a few cues that can help us change our mindset.
Focus on the positive: In the same way that negative thoughts can dig us deeper in despair, positive thoughts can change our outlook. Instead of “hating this”, think about why you loved this before. I get to travel to Spain! I get to swim in the Mediterranean Sea! I earned this!
Remember your why: Why did you choose this race? What motivated you to train for this event? In those bad moments remember why you put in all the work leading up to this moment.
Attitude of gratitude: I know it sounds cliche. But replace the negative talk with thoughts of thankfulness. That you get to race. That you get to be in this moment. That your body is capable of doing hards things.
The rest of the race was amazing. The bike course, which was insanely hilly, was beautiful, terrifying in places, and something that just can’t be replicated. Because I swam so poorly, I was passing women in my age group constantly. Oooh that is fun! The run was electric. With crowds 3 and 4 deep in some sections it was loud and motivating and special. If I had allowed my negative thoughts to sit with me the rest of the day, I would have missed out on some special moments and the memories would be tainted. Instead I’m proud of the way I turned things around, gave it my all on the bike, and ran until my legs didn’t want to any more!
Have you had a bad mindset going into a race (or training session) and were able to turn things around? What worked for you? Comment below; I’d love to hear it.
Until next season :)