Shut Up and RACE! (mental aspects of racing)

One of the most difficult aspects of racing is keeping your head on straight when things start getting rough. I've been working on controlling the mental side of racing - and it is working! Here are some of the most helpful advice I've been able to use. I should say that mental control while racing doesn't come naturally. The ability to quiet the mind isn't as easy as you think on a good day - it's nearly impossible when you are hurting and trying to push your body beyond limits. This requires practice and focus while training to develop these skills.

Mark Allen's advice that you don't have to feel good, to be having a good race. Quite the opposite sometimes. When you are digging deep and pushing beyond your limits, this rarely feels "good". This helped me greatly during my most recent race... I was feeling horrible during the run (after an incredible bike split), but I didn't let that get me down. Instead, I kept telling myself I felt like this because I was racing harder than I ever have before, and that if it were comfortable - it would be too slow. To "expect" to feel like that and embrace it, instead of panic and slow down - helped me negative split the run and set a run PR - despite feeling like crap from mile one. This was very helpful during the majority of the run.

Jef Mallet had an interesting story in Triathlete magazine a few months ago about red-lining and made an analogy to the "check engine light" in your car. The gist was that just beause you are hurting while doing intervals, or climbing a hill, etc. doesn't mean you have to pull back. You can always push it a little further and find some time to recover. This is especially helpful to me at the track or pool doing speedwork. During a 5 minute hard set when everything hurts and all you want to do is stop - it is so helpful to know that you can hang on just a bit more until the recovery.

Finally - Simon Whitfiled talked about how he bounced back and pushed through serious exhaustion and anguish during the 2009 Hy-Vee triathlon to win $200,000 for first place in a sprint finish. For him, when things are tough, he shuts off his mind completely... "Shut up and race" is his trigger to stop thinking, and let the body do what it can. Pushing through the pain, blocking out any mental chatter and just racing - is a pretty powerful tool. Not easy to do, but can come in very handy for shorter periods of time. "Shut up and race" were the last words in my head when the clock hit 2hours and my goal was 2h10m... The last mile and a half of my race, I was red lined and on the brink of falling apart. I kept running faster and blocked out all the pain, all the calculations, all the pressure... I just ran... and had my fastest mile and a half of the day.