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Loss of confidence - help needed, please

I'm racing on Sun at the Derby duathlon (6k, 40k, 4k), and I have completely lost confidence in my ability to do anything at all.



My head knows I've done many tri's before, although I've not raced since June. But right now I'm just having a complete wobbly about it. I had a chest infection for a couple of weeks recently so training has been a bit hit and miss. I'm never fast, but I ought to be able to get round on basic fitness levels.



Does anyone else ever feel like this? Any motivational tips? Confidence is not a strong point of mine at the best of times, but I've never felt like this before .....



HELP, PLEASE .......

Comments

  • Funny you should post this as I felt the same recently after a group training session in the pool. I watched so many people gliding through the water, apparently effotlessly and realised just how much work I still have ahead of me and even pulled out of a local aquathon as result! I have regretted doing that every day since.

    All I do to motivate myself is to look around me every day at other people in their mid-30's at work or on the street, most with beer bellies, pale skin and no fitness levels to talk about and think that even if I were to crawl in over the line in last place, at least I'm giving it a go and doing myself some good.

    So, even if this weekend's event doesn't work out as planned, it is only 1 event and given your recent illness, I would just treat it as a type of 'recovery event' to test your fitness and plan for the next one.
  • loonytoonloonytoon Posts: 673
    Pat,



    What was the race in June?



    Ian



    p.s.



    I know the answer to the above question!!!...Remember the pain, joy and pride. Sun will be a walk in the park.

  • I read this the other day and liked it..I think it's appropriate, maybe the second sentence more so but thought I'd share it all.



    "It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena...who strives...who spends himself...and who, at worst , if he fails, at least he fails while daring, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who new neither victory nor defeat."



    I hope you decide to take part in the event on Sunday.
  • RobRob Posts: 209
    Pacrfish, if you can do Wimbleball you can do anything! Derby doesn't even involve a swim!



    You know you can run, we know you can run. You know you can cycle, we know you can cycle. Go do the Derby Duathlon & open a can of whuppass on it!!!!
  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    pat - be the first into T3 for that is all that really matters the rest will have already fell into place along the way....



    phil [:D]



    ps "if you show me your tattoo I will show you mine"
  • pacrfishpacrfish Posts: 266
    Thank you all - your replies made me laugh and brought tears to my eyes.



    headhunter70 - thanks for reminding me how I would feel if I don't race on Sun

    loon - thanks yet again - keep on telling me!

    milnercraig - love the quote - I'm going to print it out and put it above my desk

    Rob - thank you - Wimbleball seems like a dream but I'm hanging on to it

    Mad - I'll keep T3 in mind - and I'm still going for that tattoo .....



    Since I started this thread I've been stung by a wasp and now have a swollen and painful hand, plus a bug which put me in bed for a day.



    HOWEVER, I AM going to RACE on Sunday. Race plan is to keep the first run steady, hammer the bike and survive the second run.



    Bless you all - I'll let you know how it goes

  • loonytoonloonytoon Posts: 673
    so pat you whoop a$$ at the weekend or what ;)
  • pacrfishpacrfish Posts: 266
    Hi guys



    Was waiting for the results to be published on the website because I'm not exactly sure of the times but they're not out yet so .....



    Well, I started ........ and I finished. 2 hours 41 mins and 29 secs or thereabouts. I have never done so much exercise while feeling so dreadful!!



    First run was 'undulating' (lovely phrase). Ran with someone I've met at local races who is faster than me, and blew out on one of the hills about 4 km into the run. Oh, the shame of having to walk - even tho it was only for a few metres. Felt sick, weak and awful from then on. Very slow T1 - even managed to hit my head on my tribars. On the first few miles of the bike (also 'undulating') I had the headache from hell, felt even more sick and had tree trunks full of pain instead of legs. So very nearly stopped and turned back, but thought of you lot, and of Mad halfway round Snowdon, and bribed myself with 'just another mile ... just to the next corner ..... just to the roundabout......'. Then I saw someone else on the bike course (everyone else was long gone!!) and managed to reel her in .... so I was no longer last!!! And then another ..... etc



    Still feeling like I've a massive hangover I made it into T2 (the winners had finished by now, of course, and were merrily consuming sausage butties and coffee). The second run was indescribably awful. Cross-country, muddy, long grass and uphill in every direction. One part even went across the corner of a football pitch - with game in progress! Can vaguely remember shouting at the organiser that if I tried to enter next year he wasn't to let me.... Rather excitingly, the finish line was a brick wall in a churchyard - at least it would have been exciting if I'd been moving at anything other than a crawl by that stage! Couldn't even manage the butties and coffee at the end!



    The good news was that I won the female vets category - even if there were only 2 of us! And I liked the £30 Skinfit voucher I got cos now I have some new kit. There were several finishers after me, including some men. (Sorry guys, love you all dearly but there is something very satisfying in beating men!!!). But the best news for me was that the timekeeper told me I was within 2 minutes of the finishing time of the female 40-49 winner.



    So, thank you all. If you'd not replied to my thread I would have quit on Sunday morning, if I'd started at all.



    Instead I've £30 of new kit, and I've learned that it is possible to keep going at a reasonable pace even when you do feel sick as a dog and someone has stolen your legs.



    Cheers, guys, I appreciate it.









  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    pacrfish wrote:


    thought of you lot, and of Mad halfway round Snowdon, and bribed myself with 'just another mile ...





    odd that cos on the last climb of snowdon I was thinking of you whooping ass and chasing shaven leg on your triathlon .... so perhaps I / we should be thanking you .. the prize is obviously your just reward for ALL your efforts ... and alledgedly I am the mad one. ...... (Shhh no one mention next season)



    top effort PAt & never stop beating blokes



    mad (phil) [:D]
  • Rich_CRich_C Posts: 152
    Congrats Pacrfish!



    Nice result and a good performance, [:)]



    What was all the worrying about?[:D]



    Congrats to madnurse too.



    Smooth performance at the Snowdon ( I was behind him at the start and watched Him vanish in to the distance!)[:D]



    One tough marathon!







  • pacrfishpacrfish Posts: 266
    Where's the Snowdonia report? How did you all get on? It looked incredibly tough - so what happened??
  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    report .... am still wading me way thru T3 (post race carbo loading i think its called)



    sort it tommorrow x
  • pacrfishpacrfish Posts: 266
    Yep - red wine and chocolate right now!
  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    you did so good yesterday you desrve a little indulgence
  • Rich_CRich_C Posts: 152
    Well for me it went as planned and i learned alot to take to lanzarote with me. Stopped at all the fule stations and consumed way more cals than i needed to simulate the last leg of an IM. Got used to the start-stop and learned my knee joints dont like steep climbs after the 15 mile mark. very important to me this as i can now address the problem. Fitness was fine, quite suprised! kept to the plan and did not push it at all. Got to the 23 mile mark and stopped and walked the rest! Why?



    I wont run cross country over broken bricks and cobble stones that are on are mud path and then down 800 meters of steep grass incline when one slip could put me right out of next years events!LMAO[:D]



    I came in bang on 5 hrs but wasted a good 30 minutes walking and talking with marshals who could tell i was a 'bit' angry![8D]



    Great learning curve and got lots from it without taking risks
  • loonytoonloonytoon Posts: 673
    way to go pat...mad told me last night and to be fair reading your report i thought he'd got it wrong until I got to the end...It can't have been that bad your a winner...
  • pacrfishpacrfish Posts: 266
    Thanks loon, it's interesting how much of racing is psychological, isn't it. I know I felt grotty, but the battle was really 'mind over matter' (and for a time on the bike, matter nearly won!). And reading Mad's report, a lot of his fight on Sun was 'mental'(!!). (No obvious connection there, mad!). Maybe I need 'mental training' as much as physical? (Better not ask my children - they think I'm potty anyway ....).



    That's sort of a serious comment - is there anything one can do to improve mental attitude, or is it just what we're born with?



    Anyway, well done rich__c. Under 5 hours is very good, particularly considering the enforced walking. Better to be cautious than to risk an injury that might take you out.
  • loonytoonloonytoon Posts: 673
    Rich_c - do any body's knees like steep climbs after 15miles ?



    Well done good time especially given your approach which has to be commended i am pretty sure I'd have got there and gone "it'll be okay" then promptly broke me leg...





    Pat - Joe Friel recommends some mental training books I'll hunt the list down and let you know...

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