Keeping Your Cool

Competing in a triathlon can put you through the ringer physically as well as emotionally, especially when things go awry. But keeping a level head can be the difference between the finish line and disaster.

Pushing one foot in front of the other, I glance to the right, and check the mile marker. It reads 23. Amazing. Just over 5K to go! How many times in my life have I run a 5K? So simple. So easy. Suddenly, there's a slight spring to my step. I can feel my foot-strike improve, and the sense of rhythm and speed begins to return. It has been perhaps the darkest four miles of my life prior to this moment. I've walked through aid stations, trying to grab everything I can; worried I won't be able to run again. My only focus and hope? GET TO THE NEXT AID STATION! DON'T STOP MOVING! Meanwhile, I keep looking behind me with a few prayers here and there not to let fourth place catch me. 

With less than one mile to go, I realize I'm going to podium at an Ironman. I feel a cold rush over my body, goose bumps visible. Without control, my eyes begin to swell up, my breathing accelerates. I'm overcome with the emotion of perhaps my greatest success in the sport of triathlon (heck, maybe one of my greatest in life). The many hours and sacrifices are all being cashed in. With half a mile to go, I'm crying. I round the final corner - Mike Reilly's voice brings me home - I jump up and down, pump my fists and grab the finish tape, yelling at the top of my lungs.

This was me at the 2006 Ironman Florida, and what I experienced is what I call the "Ironman Roller Coaster." The emotional highs and lows athletes experience while racing such a long event, from the marathon to the Ironman, can reach extremes on both ends. For most, these are the real barriers out on the course, representing even greater challenges than the distance or the course itself. How athletes handle themselves when things begin to go wrong - or the level-headedness they can show by not taking senseless risks when things seem to be going right - can often determine how they will perform. 

The most simple and easiest way to avoid the emotional fluctuations of long-course racing is to not go out of your zone of comfort. Unfortunately, this plan isn't really helpful to those who are trying to push themselves to new levels, and those who must push themselves just to complete the event in the allotted time. 

If you want to do well at long-distance races, you must be stoic. When athletes get too emotionally high in a race, they begin to think they're invincible. You must not let the highs get you carried away, or begin to take risks which will likely have you dragging later on, such as poor pacing, hydration or nutrition choices. 

When athletes get too emotionally low, on the other hand, they can fall into a downward spiral, wondering if they can continue on. Athletes must not let the tough times and struggles overtake their confidence to continue on or divert their attention from the things which will help them go faster, such as technique, nutrition, hydration and pacing. 

"Athletes should realize that there are going to be good and bad patches, and be prepared for that," advises Joe Friel, renowned coach and author of the best-selling TrainingBible book series. "When they have a bad patch, don't get down about it. A good patch will follow it. They just need to get to the good patch."

Despite an athlete's best preparations, emotional lows can come along: a blister, a fall, mechanical or flat tire. However, if an athlete can keep his cool, these instances can sometimes help. Age-group triathlete Scott Iott suffered a flat tire at the 2008 Ironman Wisconsin nearly four hours into the bike. Iott, understandably frustrated from the nearly 12 minutes it took to replace the tube, kept his cool and did not try to make up that time with a harder-paced ride the rest of the way. Instead, he kept his watts according to the plan when he remounted, and went on to finish with the fifth fastest overall run, fastest age group run overall, and a ticket to Kona. "I don't think I would have run that well if I hadn't gotten the flat tire. It gave me a little rest time."

There are things athletes can do to prevent the lows, and keep themselves in check with the highs, in order to maximize performance and the hard work put into the race.

First, your training should reflect the demands of the race you're training for, so the roller-coaster experience happens during your training too. Learn from your training, and how you respond when you reach these points, especially the lows. The highs of a race are harder to simulate in training, but you can easily simulate the lows. When you hit rough patches in your training, how do you respond? Do you finish the workouts, or cut them short? Do you try to investigate what is causing the lows, and address them to see if you can prevent them the next time? Athletes who recognize these instances will gain a lot of confidence for race day. 

Second, make sure you plan, plan, and plan. Remember, even if you're having a perfect race, if you're pushing yourself you will hit rough patches. You shouldn't expect a perfect race, as it is unlikely. Instead, prepare for the things that could go wrong, and what your responses to them will be. Consider nutrition issues, sickness, mechanicals, pacing, hydration, sunscreen, or anything which may affect your race. Even if things go wrong, athletes can take comfort in the fact they have prepared - and use this preparation to not let themselves fall into a downward spiral of emotional crashing and stress.

Adam Zucco, founder of the Multisport Madness Triathlon Club in Chicago and a TrainingBible coach, suggests this exact approach for athletes and believes too many athletes try to decide the outcome of their races in a single moment, instead of realizing a long race is the sum of many moments. "Fix the problem and move on. Hold off on judgment of your race until well after it is completed, instead of constantly judging it as it goes."

Next time you toe the line for a long-distance endurance event, be sure to plan for everything you can, and keep your cool. Don't let the emotional roller coaster ever get you too high, or too low, and you'll maximize your performance.

Jim Vance is an elite coach for TrainingBible Coaching (www.trainingbible.com), and a professional triathlete. Questions or comments can be sent to jvance@trainingbible.com.