MF'n Triathlon Coaching

I had plans to write this post no later than one week post race with the idea that I could say it took that long to let my fingers thaw and regain the dexterity to type again. As I sit in a hotel room in Mount Vernon and prepare to depart for Sidney, BC on a ferry in the morning nearly two weeks after Troika, I realize that now, my fingers have not only thawed but actually sport a bit of bronze from the sunshine that radiated down upon us all last week. Leave it to a busy race schedule to hold me accountable to writing my race reports. Leave it to Mother Nature to remind me of the unpredictability of Spokane spring weather. I remember thinking last weekend while riding across sun-soaked pavement how hot I felt, sweat trickling down my face. On the wet and cold Saturday morning Troika Triathlon (sprint, Olympic, long and duathlon courses) happened to fall upon, my sweat mixed freely with beads of water, both falling out of the ski and splashing upon me from passing cars. To marvel at

Even before this race began on what happened to be a relatively calm, Saturday race morning, I  struggled mentally. After a meaningful conversation with my coach Friday night over the phone, I sat down and wrote out 10 goals that I planned to use to keep myself focused on each part of the race. Because I'm currently reading Joanna Zeiger's book, The Champion's Mindset,  and because I just finished the part of her book emphasizing the ways athletes can benefit from writing goals, I felt inspired to do it myself.  My goals fell into one of three categories related to procedure, performance, and outcome.  Procedural goals: Glide through the water; blow water out your mouth. Don't swallow air. Stroke the bike pedals efficiently; use more of my butt than my quads. Count my pedal strokes and footfalls when my mind wanders.  Drink at least 3/4 of your bottle loaded with 800 calories of F2C Glycodurance. Ignore the heat and concentrate instead on your foot