Different Strokes

Big days for some of my athletes tomorrow, I have three of them heading out to race, although not all at the same event.

Two of my athletes are taking part in one of the local Olympic Distance triathlons tomorrow. While the race itself won't be too major, the part this race plays in their seasons is significant. For one athlete this will be his first Olympic Distance and is an important step on his way to Busso Half in May. For the other athlete, it will be his second Olympic Distance, so a little more experience, however, the race is also an important piece of race practice in preparation for Busso.

These athletes have lots to learn when it comes to racing longer races, pacing, nutrition, fatigue management, the list goes on. We have chatted about these topics previously, but there are some things that simply have to be experienced first hand to truly understand. That is what the race tomorrow is all about. It is almost guaranteed that mistakes will be made, particularly for the athlete doing his first Olympic, but that is exactly why we are doing these races. We want the mistakes during these smaller races so that they don't happen at Busso. Race here, makes some mistake, learn a little and race some more. Practice makes perfect as they say and that is what tomorrow is all about for these guys. I do hope they have good days because tomorrow is also about building confidence heading into the big day, but there are also plenty of positives that can be gleaned if the days don't go to plan.

For my other athlete tomorrow, she isn't racing locally, but rather over in Mooloolaba at the Australian Age Group Olympic Distance Championship. For her tomorrow is not practice, tomorrow is the big dance. Tomorrow is what all the training has been about. For this athlete the aim of tomorrow is to secure sufficient points to guarantee selection in the Australian Age Group team for the World Championships in Lucerne. Now this athlete is very good so I think selection is guaranteed anyway, however, she would prefer to be safe rather than sorry.

For this athlete the focus for tomorrow is very different than the first two. While they are out there to make mistakes and learn from them, she is out there to execute a good race, a perfect race if possible. To do this she will need to manage her expectations and her nerves, race smart, withstand challenging conditions, follow her plan and keep a positive mindset. If she can manage these things then she should be up for a good day, however, there is no guarantee of that.

I guess when you look at the two groups of athletes it is interesting to see the contrast. For one group tomorrow is the start of their journey, or something close to that. For another athlete tomorrow is the culmination of this phase of her journey (although there are many other phases to come). Very different objectives, although groups have very important days in front of them.

Very interested to see how it turns out in the morning.