Living the dream......within reason

I arrived in Hawaii 5 days ago. I had some major issues with the heat the last time I raced, and I said if I qualified again, and was able to, I'd get here early enough to do the last of my training here before the taper.
Thanks to incredibly supportive work colleagues (and husband!), this was possible, and after a couple of fairly easy days, to get over the journey, I got stuck into a pretty heavy training schedule. I have had a bit of consultancy work to do, and papers to review but most of my time has been occupied with the triathlete's dream: Eat, train, eat, massage (or yoga), train, eat, sleep. Essentially the life that the pros live every day.

I've also had a bit of time to think about this incredible opportunity, and reflect on some more of the mental aspects of what is ahead.

Luke McKenzie and Beth Gerdes

One thing I have realised is, as an age group athlete, it is great to have a taste of how the pros live. But it would be easy to fall into the trap of letting this experience in the next couple of weeks over-inflate my idea of what I am capable of on race day. It is so amazing to be living and training amongst the pros- (yesterday I was swimming between 2 World Champions, and today I chatted to the 2013 Hawaii runner-up, Luke Mckenzie and his amazing partner, Beth Gerdes). What I LOVE about this sport is that the pros don't act like stars (I guess the lack of support, for them financially and from the mainstream media means they are not swamped by fans like World Champs from other sports). Our sport is so special in that we race right alongside the pros. Here in Kona, the atmosphere is what I would expect the Olympic Village to be like, and of course it would be pretty hard to ever score a place there!!

So back to that point about race-day. I did my first ride on the Queen K on Tuesday and was FLYING!! I'd forgotten how smooth and fast the road surface is.

But today was another story. The notorious winds came up today, and it was, according to the pros, the windiest ride many of them have ever done Leanda Cave, 2012 champion's post read "The windiest ride I have EVER done in Kona after 8 years of coming here to race. This video does not even do it justice."

https://twitter.com/leandacave/status/647973072511877120

Beth disappearing into the distance!

All well and good to read AFTER the event, but it was pretty humbling out there. Staying on the bike was challenging enough, but I stand by my comment that the harder, the better as far as I'm concerned! No, the difficult part for me was realising that after battling into the wind for most of the way out, Kona did its thing, and the wind swung around, so that on the way back, we only got about 20k of tailwind, then more headwind for the final 25k!! During this time, Luke and then Beth came flying past me, and highlighted just how big the gap is between my ability and hers. So it gave me a reality check. Much needed. You see, it's great to come out here, and immerse ourselves in the vibe that the World Championships provides. It's also right and fitting that we take our final two weeks' preparation seriously. I know first hand, how hard it is to qualify for Kona. I also know a large number of people who would love to be where I am now. It would be disrespectful to slack off now. BUT....

We are not pros. We aren't doing this for a living, it is our passion, lifestyle, hobby. There needs to be focus, but also some realism and balance.  When I started to feel negative out there today, and when the negative, driving thoughts came up like "at this speed, you'll be doing a 7 hour ride in 2 weeks", what brought me back to reality was thinking 'so what? You'll be racing HAWAII, who cares how long it takes? You know you can finish, no matter how slow the bike is".

We don't have our livelihoods on the line. We just have our own goals and limits to surpass. For me, getting back to Hawaii again means I've already won. Anything else is a bonus.

2 weeks to go