By BJ Christenson
This past weekend I had the opportunity of competing in my 6th Ironman World Championship. I felt pretty good about my preparation, just didn’t have the race I felt I could have. I was dealt another hard lesson from the big island of Hawaii. I am so very grateful for all of my friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances who wished me well. I also want to congratulate Colin Anderson for shaving 2 hours off his previous best Ironman and having a dream come true by finishing the Hawaii Ironman. I also want to congratulate Ali Black who topped off her amazing season this year with a top 5 finish in her age group here at the World Championship.
Even though it wasn’t the performance I hoped for it was an honor to race with the best. I plan on taking what I learned and improve on my weakness and hopefully come back and have the race I know I can.
5 things you can do to bounce back from a bad race.
So you had bad day. You did all of your training, you got to your ideal race weight, you had an excellent taper and in the end your performance of the year wasn’t what you had pictured in your head. If this rings true for you as it has for me then maybe I can share with you 5 tips to help you bounce back from a rough day at the office.
- Let it out and have yourself a good cry. Maybe you won’t cry but let that feeling of disappointment out of your system. It is natural to feel frustrated, angry, sad, disappointed after a bad day so get it out. This will be the key to starting the rebuild process. Yes this is the pits but in the end when you do have a great day you can fully appreciate it because you also know what it feels like to have a bad one.
- Take time to thank those who suffer with you. After a bad race it is almost certain that a friend or loved one will tell you congratulations or “good job.” Your friends and loved ones know it wasn’t your best day but they are proud of you and your effort no matter the result. Take comfort in knowing you are lucky to have such people in your life. They know the training you went through to get yourself ready. They are by your side in victory and defeat.
- Congratulate your fellow competitors on a job well done. In racing we all compete together against the clock not against each other. When one of our fellow competitors has a bad day usually someone has had a great day. Take some time to give your fellow competitors the accolades and love they deserve for having a great day. You will have a great day again and they will likely return the love.
- Focus on what went well. As you hash out your performance more than likely there were some parts of the race that went well. Pat yourself on the back and say good job and remember what went well so you can repeat that part the next time you race. Every race is a learning experience so don’t forget that nugget of wisdom you just aced for the future.
- Expose your weakness. Now that the race is over take time to reflect on where you can improve. Find out what went wrong and take the necessary steps to improve so that you can have the day you know you are capable of.