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Sunday, March 29, 2015

The Challenge


What are you going to do about it?

I hear her words, her implied words, every day.

What are you going to do about it?

The Challenge had been handed down.

What was I going to do?

I work best (and I believe all athletes do) when I set my own goals. I talk to my Coach, and we figure out a plan to get me there.

I set really big goals. I don't know how long some of them will take, but I own them. They're mine. 

No one has to believe in my goals, except me.

When it comes time to go after them, and I run into an obstacle, it's up to me to figure out what I'm going to do.

How am I going to handle it?

Most of the time, the obstacles are "fear"....plain and simple. I have to ask myself, "Are you going to let fear decide the outcome of this race?"

The fear of going too hard....

The fear of getting tired....

FEAR. Unfounded fear and nothing more.

Sometimes, the answer has been "yes". 

After my last race, which was a solid performance-not my best-not my worst, I spent the last two weeks going over my plan for my Peak race (in about 2 weeks).

I took an honest look at my training and racing. I've been slacking off in my swims. I've been taking it easy, knowing that even if I go easy, I can still swim faster than most women in my AG.

I've been afraid to go all in on the bike because I wanted to save something for the run.

But Coach isn't training me to hold back or to "need" to save something for the run. She's training me to go ALL IN for each event.

After our last talk, she said, "What if you are at the top of your ability in the run?"

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? You have goals to hit.

It took some time, but I realized what she was trying to tell me.

This is about me and about me being willing to trust what I can do; doing what I do in training every day. Go out there and suffer, eat pain....because that's what the oly is about.

So, what am I going to do about it? I'm going to control the race instead of letting it happen to me. I'm going to own my actions and willingness to go where I haven't before.

I'm ok with being afraid, but I'm not going to let it decide the outcome of my race.

As Coach says, "It won't be easy, but it will be simple."