Preparing to race

I haven't had a great week on the training track as during my easy run on Wednesday I twisted my ankle. After the initial limping, and swearing I attempted to get home and must admit the pain eased after a km or so. I iced it immediately for an hour and now after a couple of days am left with a nasty bruise around my ankle. I can now jog without pain but upon waking in the morning the ankle feels a little tender.

My next scheduled triathlon is tomorrow so I hope it holds up ok. The race is at a bayside location in close proximity to Melbourne called Elwood. It is probably the biggest race of the season due to its central location. The distance is a 600m swim followed by a 20km bike and 6km run.

I suppose i class myself as an experienced competitor having completed probably around 100 races over the last 15 years. It is amazing how your thought process changes over time. In the beginning most of my anxiety concerned completing the distance, expecially the swim, and just getting through the race.

After getting through the phase of just completing the race my thought process changed to racing and trying to place as high as possible. Although still a hack triathlete I still feared not performing at my anticipated levels and the levels I perceived my peers placed upon me . My initial fears and anxieties of completing the race were now gone but were replaced with these new anxieties about poor results or by looking bad in the eyes of my peers.

I think I have now overcome these fears but like before have additional anxieties to replace them. My new fears concern pain. I know the distance is not a problem and I have confidence in my perfromance but I know from my previous races that putting yourself to the test always involves pain. The lungs screaming for air during the run, the legs yearning for relief during the ride, these are feelings that I know I will feel at some point during the race and the thought of them scares me.

I want to improve and this involves a testing process. The price of a good performance is the pain of effort and as I age the thought of this pain becomes less palatable. I am not yet prepared to give up my sport so I must find a way of dealing with these fears.