Emil Zatopek, the great
Czechoslovakian distance runner of the 1950s, once said that “training is principally an
act of faith.” He was right. There are no guarantees that you will have a good
race simply because you do certain workouts. The human body doesn’t respond the
way a machine might. Doing “x” doesn’t always produce “z.” It’s simply too
complex. There are lots of variables, lots of things that can go wrong. Many of the
variables result from your unique physical and mental make up.
face value that race outcomes aren’t always going to be what we planned for and
hoped would happen. Things can go wrong that appear to be outside of your
control. A muscle cramps, your stomach shuts down or the competition is simply
tougher than what you expected.
a poor race performance. Do you have a decent bike that fits properly? How
about your wheels, shoes, wetsuit, goggles and clothing? Was a flat tire the
culprit? Did the battery go dead on your heart rate monitor, power meter, GPS
device or accelerometer during the race leaving you with only your poorly
developed sense of perceived exertion to gauge intensity?
Then there are the even
bigger variables such as your genetics. How much slow twitch muscle do you
have? Are you big or small? How difficult is it for you to get down to racing weight? Do you seem to
be better at short races rather than long ones – or the other way around.
that may have contributed to your demise. Perhaps you threw in the towel as soon
as the competition heated up. Or you just couldn’t seem to stay focused during
the race. Maybe you were so nervous before the race that you made lots of
rookie errors such as not eating enough or starting much too fast.
The bottom line here is that
a race outcome can’t be predicted like a science experiment. You train with the
faith that you are doing the right things given your unique situation. Because
of this things can go wrong and you don’t always know why. Or perhaps you do.
Regardless, when “luck” seems to turn against you and you have a “bad” race a
common reaction is to look for the next race you can do, hopefully very soon,
so you can prove to yourself that you’re ok after all. These are called
“redemption” races. You’re seeking salvation for your shortcomings with the
hope of making your world right again.
course of action. What I usually see happen at redemption races is the athlete
is too tired, too sore or too tapered to race well again right away. This often
results in a second “bad” race which brings not salvation but rather eternal
damnation. Athletes then sink into a morass of mental self-abuse so deep
that it causes some to quit the sport or at least come to the conclusion that
they are indeed worthless when it comes racing. I’ve even seen athletes who
come to believe they are not even “good” people because of a poor race
performance. Sometimes we tie too much baggage onto race performances. You are
not your last race.
redemption races. The only exception would be if you DNF’ed (did not finish)
the race due to some obvious and easily fixed problem over which you now have
total control such as a mechanical issue with your bike. Such a situation means
you are not completely fatigued and the cause is obviously correctable.
Otherwise, consider what went wrong and what can be done about it so that,
hopefully, a similar problem doesn’t occur again. But keep in mind that you may
not be able to figure out a cause. So you’re back to relying on faith again.
That’s alright. Press ahead.
