While writing Courage to Tri, I learned a number of lessons that apply to triathlon and way beyond. The first was that being a newbie—at anything—is hard. The second is that almost-nothing goes as planned! The third is that even-the-best planning rarely leads to the perfect race.

At opposite ends of the spectrum, there are two athlete types. Athlete one is currently researching historical weather patterns in Taupo in preparation for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, 2020. Athlete two just pulled the trigger on IRONMAN Mont- Tremblant next month–without informing their coach or their spouse!

Where do you fall on the planning spectrum?

Personally, I tend to fall in the middle. I like to prepare diligently–okay, manically–when I have a deadline I can wrap my head around. Starting on a project too soon is anxiety-producing, as is beginning too late.

Whether you prepare well ahead of time—or just in time—you’ll still run into variables you can’t control. This is a fact of racing and of life.

Planning rarely leads to the perfect race day.

Augusta 2015. This was one of the days I came closest to a perfect race, yet, at the time I was focused on the non-perfect details.

There are always variables out of your control.

On some race days it’s 110 degrees, or there’s a windstorm, it pours rain, your wetsuit rips, your skinsuit rips, you swallow all the sea water, you get a flat, you get a hole, you get a penalty, you bring the wrong tube, you get sick, you fall, you take a wrong turn, or your pacing sucks. And those are just a couple of things I remember happening in my last ten years of racing.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Some of the planning for IRONMAN Couer D’Alene on the hottest day since 1886, or some such nonsense. I remember the smell of melting rubber as the pavement reached 140 degrees on the bike ride. And the sting of accidentally pouring a container of Base Salt down my pants after 10+ hours of the ultimate chafing weather on the marathon. 

If you’ve been racing longer than two seconds, you’ve realized there’s no such thing as a perfect race, by the strictest definition. Our training, our health, the conditions, and more come into play, sometimes for better, but often for worse.  And sometimes our very best performances are those we don’t recognize until later.

 

Planning rarely leads to the perfect race day. There are always variables out of your control.

 

This lesson totally also applied while writing and publishing Courage to Tri. Example one, my top choice for a domain add-on to redirect wasn’t available. Thanks godaddy for the alternative suggestions.

• 

• 

Example two, the release date was July 1st, but because of shipping delays, the actual release will be more like August 1st.

Note:  you can still order it now from any of these retailers!

Example three, what’s wrong with the below caption? It’s worth noting that if I had edited the book myself, there would be at least one hundred grammatical errors on each page! The amazing part is this is the first mistake I’ve caught! So let’s have some fun with it. See the contest rules below the photo.

Contest alert

**Like or Follow my facebook or IG account

**Post your best caption as a facebook, IG, or blog comment.

**I’ll pick my favorite and send you a free paper copy of the Courage to Tri. I’ll sign it myself, or if you’d prefer it to be signed by someone famous and stuff, I’ll write someone else’s name.