Enjoying the Racing Moment

In 16 days I will be racing long. I’m excited and nervous. It’s been too long since I raced long. I have a lot to review and prep for. As someone who has been “winging” her last few races, not thinking about them until the night before, I know I have to get back to “racing long mode”. 

I feel like everything is going so well: I’ve been biking more than ever, I know my stroke is more efficient than ever, and the run, well, the run, I don’t know about the run. 

I am healthy, strong, confident. But so many things can go wrong and I'm preparing for that. 

I think I just need to do the mental training and make lists. I’m good at making lists.

One thing that I really enjoy doing is helping my friend Joanne through her first Ironman. I met Joanne a year ago at a race in Granby. She came up to me to ask about my Ironman Arizona hat because she was thinking of doing the race. We talked, exchanged emails, and are now friends on Facebook.

In the year since she signed up for IMAZ, she has emails me many questions and concerns about her race in November. My job is to talk her off the ledge. 

She is going to do amazing. 

She has raced multiple marathons and is biking more than I ever did for my first Ironman. I'm telling her to live in the training moment. 

That is the biggest lesson I have to keep learning over and over again – live in the training moment.

Why – because as soon as the race is over, she is not going to know what to do with herself. What’s next? She will ask herself. What do I do with all my free time? She will be depressed.

I told her, enjoy that 100 mile training ride. Enjoy that 10 mile run because you aren’t going to be going long like that for awhile, post-race. At least I didn’t.

I’m not sure Joanne knows how to chill out. She is a searcher – always searching for that next thing – never satisfied. I know all about it.

What’s next? Always the question.

I know for me, what’s next after my long course race on November 10 – El Tour de Tucson on November 17, then the Tucson Marathon a few weeks later. Then a break and then - ramping up for Ironman Wisconsin and getting faster. Getting more efficient. Learning everything I can. 

Now if I could just learn how to stop hitting submit.