QTS Gatorade Series Race 3

Medal from the Gatorade Series Triathlon Series

The Event Crew who run the Queensland Tri Series, Sponsored by Gatorade held race 3 of the series at Raby Bay, QLD.  As  a quick race brief there were Jelly fish, delays as we waited for boats to clear the marina and the heat came to those who had a later wave start. Though this is not what I want to tell you about.

The day before the race I was lucky enough to attend a sports psychology session at Revive Ashgrove. The presenter was Mat (Mental Notes Consulting) . This to me was a new experience, while I had previously trawled through the internet and had an appreciation for the mental aspect, I had never really had to confront the challenges I hold, let alone be thrown in to talk about them in a group environment. The thing that I believe that held me back was not the willingness to suffer, but the ability to suffer for an extended period of time.

This brain works as a safety system to protect our body, and unfortunately it kicks in well before our body actually will break. This was the main fact I took away from the session as well as a visualisation technique and the notion of self confidence (believe to achieve).

I was able to utilise the visualisation during the extended break before the race as we waited for the marina to clear of boat traffic (and yes there was the one or to muppets that ignored and still got in). I was determined to suffer, to be able to go beyond where I was used to.

I did, I dug deep in the run, my least favourite, my toughest leg. I was able to run a PB off the bike and finished 3rd, which in turn now has me leading my category for the series. These three immediate  extrinsic factors quickly reenforced how suffering paid off, but now on reflection I feel more confident now in my own ability, which really out weighs the instant gratification as I still look towards taking my racing further.

For this I would like to thank not only my coach, but Pete Ledwidge for letting me know about this session at  Revive Ashgrove, and to Mat (Mental Notes Consulting) for starting me on a stronger journey towards a more complete racer.