Counting Down
This is probably going to be my last article before racing Ironman Canada on Sunday, August 28, so I thought it’d be a good chance for me to talk about race planning and visualization.
Parents, coaches and mentors have long been telling me to visualize winning, but it wasn’t until I started racing triathlon that I really experienced the value of doing so. In team sports like soccer, it didn’t matter how many times I imagined scoring the game-winning goal, if I didn’t get the ball, or, more likely, I wasn’t as good as my imagination let me believe, it just wasn’t gonna happen. There were always too many variables for me to control, so while visualizing was confidence boosting, I’m not sure it was an effective means of preparation - I should have just practiced more.
However, in triathlon, where my effort is exactly equal to my result, there is no opposing team to dribble circles around me. Because of this, and because of the considerable length of Ironman distances, being mentally prepared is almost as important as physical fitness.
The one biggest things I do before every race is drive/ride/run as much of the course as possible. If you’ve been doing triathlon long you know this. This gives me a chance to see and feel road conditions and technical sections, as well as giving me physical markers of progress - “When I get to the yellow barn I’m 3/4 up this climb.” This is huge. Personally meaningful indicators of progress are much better motivators than nameless mile markers, every time.
Another one is creating a race day planner. I read about this in an article so it’s new for me too, but considering the long and relatively complex nature of Ironman, I thought the suggestion was a good one. Using sheet of paper, I ticked off a timeline, from 5am to 5pm. Above that I traced the elevation profile for the whole race, and above that I broke each discipline into distinct parts, each part corresponding to certain mileages with a few notes on how to approach it, mentally and physically. Below the profile and timeline are my nutrition notes, where I outlined what I should be eating when. I didn’t want to make it too complicated, as I won’t actually have it with me while racing, but naming my expectations and planning how I’m going to get there is the key.
The last thing I do is a gear check. I physically lay out everything I will need on race day and go through the motions of using/putting on that item, then I pack it. There’s nothing worse than getting down to transition and realizing I forgot my Body Glide. Sure, I can always borrow from someone, but it’s a stupid mistake that takes focus away from the task at hand.
Once I’m all set up, I run through my plan a couple more times, visualizing those parts that are going to be particularly tough while grooving to some “pump-up” tunes. Triathlon is an individual sport, me vs. me. As a result, almost all the variables are in my control, and I’ve found that taking advantage of that by planning and visualizing gets me to the finish line faster. Everyone’s got a different style when it comes to race prep, but I hope some of my rituals are helpful in getting you to a successful finish too. Good luck out there.
