Tasmania 70.3

February 2023

Accepting where we are…..

On Sunday I took part in 70.3 Tasmania, what an amazing event, great location, great course, great company.

I didn’t have the anticipated build up that I had planned due to personal reasons. I just didn’t have the capacity to take everything on and my mind and body needed rest between everything that was happening in my life. So I made a choice to prioritise family and study ahead of my training which meant accepting doing less in preparation.

I contemplated withdrawing from the event, but a group of us were heading down to Hobart and it had been planned for a while so as I was going anyway I figured I might as well just do the race. 

I had been rehabbing an Achilles tendon issue so I focused mainly on my run program as I didn’t want to jeopardise that recovery.  I swan enough so I knew I could do the distance and I continued my normal rides but made sure I added in some hilly routes to prepare for the undulating course.

I felt pretty relaxed until the Friday before the race BUT I had a total spin out as we were travelling down to Tassie because I knew I hadn’t done the right prep, I had only ridden 90km twice in the last 8 weeks and I know you cannot underestimate the ride, I started to panic!

I am a believer that you have to respect your body and respect the distance you are racing and In both my work and personally, I am all about longevity for an active life, it’s important to have a sensible head around training, recovery and nutrition and that’s even more important as we get older. My work is focused on a holistic approach to movement and wellbeing and on Friday morning I was feeling like a hypocrite, I felt like I wasn’t practising what I preached and seriously wondered if it would bite me on the arse!

However I also reminded myself (as did my friends) that I had worked through the last 8 weeks knowing that I would be relying on a base of fitness that I have built on over many many years and this wasn’t my first race at this distance. I’ve never been the fastest but I could get to the finish.  I had covered the basics, I knew that my Achilles was progressing well, and figured if I went out steady, kept my HR low I could get myself to the line in one piece.  I also promised myself that I would pull up if I felt like my body wasn’t coping…which is easier said than done, but I was going to give it a go.

So all I had to do was be accepting about what this event was going to be for me.

However it’s hard when you are surrounded by amazing friends who are awesome athletes and watching their progress as you try to keep in your own headspace and stay focused on your own plan.

Over the years with various sports, I have spent lots of time focusing on getting faster times, PB’s, then the next event etc etc and of course we can all say it doesn’t matter about the time, that’s its just great that we are doing what we love, blah blah blah but deep down knowing what you used to expect from yourself makes it hard to let go and not compare.

I have had these conversations with friends many times, how we all love participating and racing regardless but I have also seen the constant turmoil of those who struggle with just taking part, who are always chasing the next PB or the fastest spilt, the greatest power, the longest distance, the gutsiest performance, every training ride becomes a race, every run is looking for the fastest split. There is guilt and distress if a training session is missed and this then leads mostly to overtraining, lack of sleep and empty kilometres for the sake of it. We put our well-being on the back burner and then say ‘I need to train as it’s good for my mental health’.

I often struggle with that last sentence because I don’t think we always get it right. Exercise is 100% important for our mental health, but obsessive behaviour is not.

I had to remind myself that I had planned to take part in this race regardless of the outcome, my end goal was the enjoyment of participating, being around friends and the fun of race day, being content with taking part, and looking after my body during the process, that was the plan. 

Race day started with glass in my tyre, fortunately swiftly fixed by the course mechanics. I then had an awful start in the swim, the water was very choppy and all I could think was how slow my time would be, I started to stress about it and had to remind myself over and over that the time didn’t matter, I had to change the hard wiring.

My support crew where dressed in tutus and ribbons waiting for me to get back to dry land, my beautiful friend Fiona was pushing for a spot on the podium (she came 2nd) that was what mattered, sharing the experience with them.

Once I got my head around those important facts, I got myself to the turnaround and thankfully the water improved and I had a great swim back in.

The ride was awesome, really really great.  Hilly and hard but so beautiful and that’s when I felt so grateful to be out there….so much fun, this is why we race! 

The run was the run, always going to be slow as I hadn’t put the work in on the bike and hadn’t run past 15km in training but I kept running, no niggles, no ankle pain just a very steady trot.

Very happy to finish!

What I was reminded of was that my reason for racing is many things; It’s the challenge, the fitness, the end result and all of those things are very personal to me. If we can create a goal inside of each race or event then it becomes more than just the finish time. Those moments in life when we really don’t have the capacity to put everything into our training, having internal goals allow us to be accepting of the end result, there is always an opportunity for personal growth. 

Movement, exercise and fitness is my work and a passion.  I have been in this industry for a long time, and I see how easy it is to become a little bit obsessed with our training programs and the fear that we will lose our fitness if we don’t keep going at any cost and then the turmoil if we get injured.

We are connected through social media apps and the constant recognition from others so it easily becomes an identity we attach to ourselves. 

However, sometimes life simply gets in the way of our best plans, and that’s ok. I learn more and more with each passing year that balance in life is key, and it’s ok to adjust our expectations, it’s ok to reset and it’s ok to slow down, no explanation required! 

Its consistency over many years rather than quantity over a short period that will enable you to maintain fitness. And by consistency I don’t mean day in day out, just steadily consistent. Don’t let months and years go by without exercise, but don’t panic if the week is empty of a training session, you don’t need to continually flog yourself.

Weekends like this one are a good reminder that keeping perspective is key and that the friendships I have made through sport at any level are a true blessing.  

Thanks to those beautiful friends for a great weekend away and to my boys at home for never questioning my reasons!