Luray is a great race- the venue is fantastic, the bike and run are challenging, and the volunteers are great. Unfortunately, it was not a great race for moi. However, it did open my eyes to a few things so all is not lost.
First off, I went into this race with the wrong attitude. "Its just a training day" "I'm out here to have fun and that's it" "I don't want to have super sore legs going into my second Ironman build cycle" I threw in the towel before the gun even went off and my race time showed it. During the race I did have a blast- I was singing to myself, I was daydreaming, and I hung out with a fellow teammate for the whole run chit chatting. I had a blast. I was A-ok at the time just having a fun day with a little sweat involved. It wasn't until later Saturday evening that I was just flat out pissed with my performance and my slow race time. Lesson learned- races are races and I need to treat them as such or else I spend the rest of the weekend cranky and not wanting to talk about it.
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| Phil and I post race |
Second- I screwed up my nutrition...yet again. This has been an issue for me and it deserves a post of it's own (coming tomorrow!). Let's just say that even after I finished the race, drank 3 bottles of water, ate a full meal and drank more water, I was STILL 4 pounds lighter than I was that morning.
Third- I learned the importance of my mid-week workouts. I have been missing a ton of them lately (for good reasons, I swear.) and then hitting my weekend workouts. No wonder my ankle started hurting 0.6 miles into the run. No wonder my knees felt like jelly the rest of the weekend. I am currently flirting with injury and that is something I don't enjoy batting my blue eyes at.
Lessons learned. It was a poor performance on my part, but exactly the wake up call I needed.
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| Whitney and I post race |
Did I mention I had fun though? I always enjoy driving to races with Phil- the car ride starts out with him sleeping and ends with a Justin Timberlake dance party. I love seeing my teammates and hanging out in the team tent before and after the race. And I love watching my super fast friends and boyfriend win awards :) Especially when the award is a hand etched wine glass that your boyfriend is not going to use and therefor it becomes kindofsortof yours. Win!
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| 1st place Clydesdale! |
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| Ryan being...Ryan :P |
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| Speed Racers |
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| Winners at Life. |
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| I need to grow a few inches... |
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| My new wine glass- Thanks for winning, babe! |
Have you had any races that went down the drain but you learned a valuable lesson (or in my case- lessonS) from?
phil races clydesdale? it's the height, right? and can i see him dance to JT sometime pretty please?
ReplyDeleteDon't be too hard on yourself. I've had MANY races that were good for nothing but the lessons I learned, and those have all made me into a better athlete. Your A+++++ goal awaits you in Cozumel, not Luray. Chalk it up as a good, fun day of training where you became a smarter triathlete and move on.
I have learned a lot of lessons from poor performances. I've grown to enjoy them in their own right, because of the lesson and added motivation to improve. :)
ReplyDeleteYou learn way more from races that go badly than races that go well. It was a fun day, anyway. Enjoy using Phil's wineglass over and over!
ReplyDeleteYes. See: Musselman.
ReplyDeleteI never considered that using races as "training days" could actually come back to bite you in the ass. Good point. I totally understand the frustration, but like Emily said, your goal this season is much bigger than Luray :)
I pretty much treated my race this weekend, the same as you treated yours. And I think I learned the same lesson. I am competive and I like knowing that the time at the finish line is the best I could do.
ReplyDeleteAt least you learned what you need to work on and the race wasn't a total waste. Just keep working and everything will pay off in Cozumel
ReplyDelete4 pounds?! good grief, girl!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments about focusing on the big one!
life is all one big lesson.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had fun!
ReplyDeleteI am seeing more beer and wine glass trophies these days. Me thinks I need to find races that offer these?
Biggest lesson I learned was for the HIM distance. Even if you nail your nutrition, if you go too hard on the bike, its gonna suck on the run, especially if it is hot out there.
I'm glad you had fun at the race, because the combo of bad race + no fun would not have been good! There's always something to learn from bad races and hopefully this one will help you be better for the Cozumel!
ReplyDeleteI think I learn something from every race, whether it be nutrition, pacing, clothing choices, etc. But now you'll hopefully have a better idea of what to do on your big race day.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't have crappy races where you learn lessons, how do you get better?!?! Of course I've been there... happens more often than I hope. But, take it with stride, remember that you still had fun and move forward. And enjoy drinking out of the wine glass because that's totally the best winner prize I've ever seen! ;)
ReplyDeletexo
You did the race, you had FUN, and you learned something. I would say that's a pretty okay day, right? I TOTALLY get being pissed, trust me. And you're allowed to be. Focus on what you learned, and take it moving forward. Oh, and enjoy the new wine glass!! Very cool!
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot during my half, but that didn't make it suck any less! I guess now that I learned how to hydrate and to sleep beforehand I can have a great race this next time around. Great job finishing the race! You look like you had fun and sometimes that is all that matters!
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