The moment I’ve been training for, not waiting for
I DID IT! I REALLY F*** DID IT!! I finished the IronMan 70.3 in Weymouth last weekend and I’m still processing what happened. What’s even more important for me personally is that A) I showed up at the swim start and B) I survived the swim and when I say ‘survive’ I mean it. What a battle swim in the open water - especially because I was so terrified of swimming in the sea.
I’m going to write a few articles about my experience with the IronMan 70.3 in the next couple of weeks because I’ve got so much I’d like to share with you; i.e. what and how to you pack your gear and transition bags, what happened before, during and after the race, why did I have a little cut on my face, how did it feel to run down the red carpet etc etc. Just so you know: The official IronMan 70.3 athlete guide has over 70 pages!! Yes! So there’s a whole lot to consider and think about when you do such a race.
Before I’ll post some stories, I wanted to start with three mantras that helped me showing up for this race.
“Triathletes don’t quit, and quitters don’t try.”
If you have read through my little series about my IronMan 70.3 journey where I shared my posts back from 2018/2019 up until this day, you know that I was thinking about cancelling the race because I was so afraid of the swim and I just had a very rough time in many aspects of my life. But this mantra reminded me that I owe it to myself and to my dear friends who were rooting for me to at least try! I thought to myself: Who am I to give up before even trying?! That’s not me! Boy, was I proud to give it my best shot on that day. What I would have missed if I hadn’t tried it! I wouldn’t had missed only an incredible race weekend and race experience itself but more importantly I would have missed a massive and crucial growth opportunity.
“(I don’t have to do this.) I GET to do this.”
This mantra always comes to mind either when a thought appears that is complaining about pain or something or when I enjoy the ride and see an Ukraine flag hanging in front gardens for example. Who am I to complain about pain caused by my participation at an incredible athletic race while others fight for their life and haven’t been as blessed and privileged to be able to take part in this and experience this bike ride this beautiful countryside?!
“This is the moment I’ve been training for, not waiting for.”
This mantra actually came to me on race morning. I got up at 4:30 am (as usual) and it hit me: This is the moment I’ve been training for, not waiting for. I remembered how much hard work, sweat, blood and tears I’ve put into this so I can experience this day. So I knew: I am going to line up at the start, face my fear, overcome my fear and give my very best. The confidence in me and my abilities started to come back again. I honestly needed to try and know that I can still rely on myself because I had many doubts over the last few months. But when I realized that I was not just sitting there and waiting for the race to start but that I’ve worked so, so hard to get here, I knew I’m going to give my best which was all that matters to me.
I hope this starting article got you a bit excited and you’re curious for the upcoming posts. I promise they won’t be boring ;) Hopefully there are a few takeaways for everyone that you can use in your daily life. I certainly learned a whole lot for life in the last couple of weeks. My intention with sharing all this with you is that I truly hope it’ll spark something within you to take the leap of faith and grind hard to achieve whatever it is that ignites your passion. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it so beautifully:
“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
I truly hope that I can be that someone for you.