Hindsight is 20/20!

This morning I raced the Florida 70.3 and you know how they say hindsight is 20/20, well I concur. My hindsight is telling me that I should have never raced in the first place. However, I was so eager to race and start my season because my training has been going so well, that I kept ignoring all the signs that were so blatantly posted in front of my face (and teeth) and set my mind on racing.

After a rough week with my crash, losing my teeth, spending hours in a dental chair getting my teeth put back together, and visiting my chiropractor to help with the stiffness from the crash I tried to remain focused for my first race of the season which was set to take place in less than 1 weeks time. I had a couple of key sessions throughout the week and although I was stiff and sore still managed to fight through them. The day before my flight to Florida I started sneezing and coughing and felt a little tickle in the back of my throat, however completely ignored all thoughts that I may have a cold coming on.

I loaded up on Echincea and boarded my flight to Florida. When I arrived in Florida I felt a little bit of a sore throat. This is when I started thinking to myself that I may have a cold coming on. The day before race day I bought a  large supply of cough drops and took them every hour just trying and praying to kick whatever was starting before I got the start line.

Waking up race morning was brutal. I had to peel myself out of bed, which is definitely never like me. I felt like I had been hit by a truck, I had no energy, no voice and one killer sore throat. However, denying all excuses I thought to myself you'll feel fine once you start the race. Well, was I ever wrong, yet again! Throughout the entire race I had no energy, my throat was burning with every exhalation and I was fading fast. Early on in the bike I switched to survival mode, my only goal was to finish the race.  On the run, I thought so many times to myself "I don't think I'm going to make", however whether or not I was going to drag myself to the finish line , I had to at least have the gratitude of finishing my first race of the season; as a DNF may have been an even bigger disappointment for me. So, I did just that struggled with every footstep and made it to the finish line, disappointed of course.

Overall, this was a sad start to my season. I know I am much more physically fit that I was last year at this race yet my results do not demonstrate this.  In hindsight, today may not have been an optimal race day for me, however after committing to it,  a race it was. And no matter how you finish in a race you constantly learn from it, so I guess I will take it and learn from it. My next race will be Kansas 70.3.  

Thanks for reading,