Ego. There it is out in the open for everyone to see. After all that is what Ironman is isn't it? Whether we want to admit it or not that is why we line up for events such as the Ironman. In fact that is how the Hawaii Ironman became a reality. It was the ego of several men who wanted to see who was the best athlete by combining three existing events on the island of Oahu. This lead to what we now recognize as Ironman. Ego was and is the driving force behind most all competitions such as Ironman. You can not attempt one of these events without having a healthy ego in which you truly believe you can complete the race. The word ego has taken on a very negative meaning over the years and this is really a shame. Ego is what drives us everyday to be better people and it also can hold us back in many respects as well. Many people whom protect their ego never realize their full potential because they are afraid of failure.
The reason this thought of ego has come to my attention is for several reasons. First is that I am currently reading "I am here to win" by Chris "Macca" Mcormack. This is without a doubt a book that delves into ego in many ways and how you can use it effectively to increase your race performance. Macca explores his ego and learns to harness it, to effectively beat his opponents before the race even begins. The second thing that brought ego to my attention is that I just got back from swimming, biking and riding the Lake Placid course for the first time. I went up with my tri team (roughly 10 of us whom will be doing the race)and was able to really realize what this race is going to be like. One of the biggest things that I took away from this weekend is how important ego will be to this race. I need to harness it and not let it take me out of my game plan. Bottom line is with my projected swim time their will be a healthly number of people out on the bike course before me. With a bike that is 112 miles long I need to let certain people go and not worry about anyone but myself. Basically I can not let my ego dictate the pace in any of the disciplines but most importantly on the bike.
The way I see it my swim will be my swim. Even a bad swim should not negatively effect my day. A good swim would be welcome and I do think that I might surprise myself but all and all not being able to "clock watch" means you just do what you can do and live with the result. On the Bike however is where this race could be impacted the most for me. My ego usually dictates my pace in training rides and even rides I do alone. I am constantly analyzing how far I have gone and in what time. And when I get into group rides I am always trying to ride up front regardless of what the pace is. I need to let my ego go come race day. If I try to chase someone whom I think I should be beating, or simply go to hard because of my goal time then it will only negatively effect my run. And the run is where I hope to make my race. However that being said, I do know from running the course this weekend that I will need to not go out too hard on the first lap. On that last lap of the run is when my ego is going to allow me to be the aggresor. My goal all along has been sub 12 hours but more importantly a sub 4 hour run. I choose this goal above all else because I read that only 10% of Ironman athletes run a sub 4 hour marathon. So when I read that my ego said lets be in that 10%. On that last lap I will put it all out there to make that happen. A saying that I like to use is "there is no race tommorrow right" which for me means lay it all on the line today.
As the race draws closer and with this weekends course preview behind me I have begun to think more of the mental aspect of the race. I feel my coach has me physically ready so all that is left is a solid nutrition plan and the mental toughness that will make or break the race. My ego had me sign up, it has made my daily training bearable and now I need to keep it in check for 127.5 miles and then let it carry me home for the last 13.1.
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