Today was my very first DNS: did not start.
Supposedly everyone has one eventually and everyone's reasons are different.
This wasn't a race we were training for. It was put on my calendar to help keep my motivation through the brutally hot and humid South Florida summer. Eight weeks ago (I think) I told my coach I didn't even want to do it, but about a month ago I decided what the heck.
Yesterday was standard pre race rituals...short workouts, lots of water, healthy lunch and dinner. I had everything ready to go. The first sign of a problem was when I went to bed. It was 9:40 and I had a 4 am wake up. Nine-forty pm is late for me. And I was WIDE AWAKE. I pretty much layed in bed until 2:30 awake most of the time. That's when I "called it".
Why?? It wasn't necessarily the risk of a poor performance, but in the whole life balance thing, this would set the tone for my week. If I start the week exhausted, it's that much easier to blow off workouts, eat junk food and just be a sloth. These are the things that go through my mind on sleepless nights.
Am I upset that I missed the race? Yes and no. I really wanted to see where my swim and run were since we have been working on it, but I would get I'd have a poor performance and I really don't need that in my head right now.
I texted coach after I woke up and told her I wasn't racing and she was super awesome about it. We agreed get on the bike (or run) for an hour and do something. So I did. I cycled for 20 miles (the race distance) and enjoyed my ride.
16 weeks to the next 70.3...onward!
Too often we go through life and make decisions based mostly from the heart, or mostly from the head. It takes a lot of wisdom, and a lot of Awesome, to be able to step back, listen to both, and come up with a reasonable plan and choose of action. Some days, it just isn't our day, and it takes a lot of courage to admit that. It feels odd to say, "Great job!" to a DNS, but this time, it sounds like you made a wise decision. - BryanB
ReplyDeleteYes, you made the right decision. I have on DNS too. You just pick yourself up and move on. Which you did with a nice 20 mile bike ride. Yay you!
ReplyDeleteYou are such a smart competitor. Eyes on the prize!
ReplyDeleteYou made the right decision. Better to not race an event you didn't want to do, than to race it and make it harder to train and focus on the main goal.
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