The Nature of Disappointment

Over the past few days Canadian triathletes experienced profound disappointment at the London Olympics.  Paula Findlay finished in last place, and Simon Whitfield did not even get the opportunity to complete his race after crashing only 30 seconds into the bike leg of the race.

What makes it difficult for Simon is that this is most likely his last Olympic event, and maybe even his last triathlon.   It is not certain that he would have won, or even made the podium, but what he wanted most was to show his stuff to the world.  And to see how all the training, sacrifice, and effort would have been measured against the rest of the field.

Paula entered the race with no race situations for the past 12-months. Maybe she was simply fooling herself.  Maybe she should not have even stepped up to the start line?  But true competitors will never back away from a challenge.  Regardless it was crystal clear that she felt the pressure of  disappointing others - family, coaches, teammates, and Canada.   That certainly is a great deal of pressure for a 20-something.


I'm in no way comparing myself to these two world class athletes in terms of ability, but I understand what they may be feeling.

Like Simon, I also have a DNF.  It was at an Olympic Distance race in Corner Brook, NL in 2005 and my body would not co-operate, and after a tough bike lap I pulled the chute and handed my bib to an official.  As soon as I handed it in I wished I did not.  It felt awful being in transition packing up my things as others were still on course.  And it was even worse at the athletes dinner having to tell people I DNF'ed.  I vowed then that I would never again DNF.

And a little later that year I experienced what Paula did at Ironman Canada.  Even going in to the event prepared my body shut down - dehydration - during the race and I had to struggle across the finish line in over 16 hours.    It was a dreadful run leg - cramping, stumbling.  But I heard my name called, got a medal, and finisher t-shirt.  And a few hours in the medical tent.  But I finished.  And even though my time goal was not achieved I averted a major disappointment.
 
So the question I asked myself is how should we view disappointment? 

First, I think it is naive to think that we will go through our lives without disappointment. 

Second there are will be major and minor disappointments.  Don't make a minor disappointment into a major one.

Third, it's how you deal with the disappointment that you'll be measured by.  We are allowed some time mourn if you will but do you  let the bitterness consume you?  NO!  Disappointment is simply a new motivator.

And finally, let's reshape our view of disappointment by reassessing how we measure ourselves.  Perhaps we are not managing our expectations, investing too much in the wrong things, acting in unhealthy ways. Instead of using finishing times as a measure perhaps we should measure if we really gave our all, or if we finishing in a healthy and uninjured state.  Or instead of a placement perhaps we should measure ourselves against how we executed our race plan. 

So if you've had some disappointment with your recent training, races etc. take a step back and determine how you are looking at / dealing with the disappointment.   You may just surprise your self and get back on the positive track.

Until next time, keep tri'n.

#TDF Challenge - Final Report and Thoughts for Next Year

The end of the Tour de France always saddens me somewhat.  I always am thrilled by watching super humans push and pedal themselves across / around a country by traveling through towns, country side, and over mountains for the greater part of a month.

And this is part of the reason I decided to take on a riding challenge - in some way I wanted to participate beyond simply watching.

But this year I am a tiny bit glad the tour is over as it also marks the end of my #TDF Challenge where I attempted to ride each day the Tour rode - 22 day of riding with two rest days.  

At the end of 22 days of the Tour (one prologue and 21 stages) I rode for 21 of those days.

In those 21 days I accumulated 474km of riding - an average of 22.5 km/day.  My longest ride was 40km, and my shortest was 2km.  The 2km shortest ride was on the final Sunday and I fully admit that I limped over the finish line.

I will not lie - at times it was a bit of a struggle, even though overall it was something I was pleased to have attempted.



Physically I suffer from mild cumulative fatigue, and the two rest days were very welcome indeed.  The first rest day came after 10 days of riding and I now know why the Tour riders are so grateful for this before they get into the grueling mountain stages.

I was also fortunate that I did not suffer any injuries over this period that would have kept me off the bike.

Luckily the weather also cooperated as no ride ever needed to be started in wet or inclement conditions, or taken indoors to the trainer.  Around here is it was hot and muggy, but for the most part I could ride in the morning when the conditions were cooler.

The dramatic increase in cycling volume really benefited my cycling ability, especially sustained effort up hills and technique.  This also translated well into improved speed and power on flatter terrain. 

I measured many of my rides with Strava, and was able to see these results over the same the routes through out the 22 days.

The cycling also helped my running even though I did not do as much running during this time.  However the higher cadence required in cycling translated well to running.  The proof was running a 52 min 10km on a very challenging and hilly run course, after the swim and bike legs of an Olympic triathlon.  

As I was coming to the end of the challenge I began to think of next year and how I might revise the challenge.

Here are some early thoughts:

• include a minimum mileage requirement
• ride to a given percentage of each stage.
• ride similar conditions e.g. when the Tours is in the mountains do hills, and in ITT do sprints or speed, and on the flats do steady tempo

These changes would increase the challenge and would likely require more preparation.   But given this years
Challenge results these type of modifications should be manageable. 

So to end I hope that next year I can encourage / entice people to join me in the the challenge - either local riders or with you - virtually.

But for now I will enjoy a few days off, then get back into more triathlon specific training for my upcoming race in about four weeks.

So don't be afraid to challenge yourself, and until next time.....keep tri'n.