We all look forward to race day, hoping that our training, hard work, and preparation will bring success whether that is a course PR, a place on the podium, or just a really solid, smooth swim, bike, or run. Unfortunately, sometimes the reality check doesn’t clear, or some weird, awkward scenario plays out. We call those setbacks: race day nightmares.
- The realization that the buoy you have been trying to get around for the last five minutes is loose and drifting with the wind.
2. You are so frazzled from the swim that you don’t notice that you put your tri top on backward and inside out and despite race photos to the contrary you deny it happened to this day.
3. Coming up on the dismount line, you forget to unclip and helplessly tip over sideways in slow motion. You hear a bystander softly say “timber!”
4. You forget where your bike is in transition and frantically search for it like the Saber-tooth squirrel in Ice Age looking for his acorn. A couple of weeks later a buddy sends you a link to a YouTube video that looks eerily familiar.
5. You oversleep on race day and get to transition about 90 seconds before it closes. This causes you to layout your gear much like a bear rearranging the contents of a dumpster. It’s all good until you realize you’re missing a bike shoe.
6. You are passed on the bike course in quick succession by a little old lady on a mountain bike, a 10-year-old boy on a 24-inch bike, and a high school girl on a flat bar road bike. The little old lady shouts “good job!”
7. You went super hard on the bike, now all you can hear is your feet slapping the pavement as you try to gut out the run. The sun is melting you. You took a wrong turn and ran a quarter-mile before you noticed a complete lack of other runners. Your breathing sounds like a steam engine. A friend heading back from the turnaround gives you a smile and a high five. You pick up your feet and pick up your pace. The finish line doesn’t seem as far away now.
Pick a number! Which one sounds like you or someone you know?
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Definitely 6. I am slow on the bike and older than a lot of the competitors, so the old lady could be in my age group. It happens all of the time AND still hurts.
You are not alone my friend. Most of these happened to me at some point in my triathlon journey.