Alex McDonald Pro Triathlete

I decided to make the trip up to Middlebury, CT to race the inaugural Rev3 triathlon. I was planning to race Ironman Cor d’Alene in just 2 weeks and decided to approach this race as a practice race/learning experience, especially given the depth of the pro field. Additionally this was my 3rd half Ironman in 5 weeks, on top of the fact that I have not officially taper for any of them due to my focus on Ironman CDA. In retrospect this may have been a bit of a stretch, however, you are never really sure where the line is until you cross it.I flew up to NYC where my mother-in-law picked me up and then lent me one of their cars to drive up to Middlebury. An easy drive on a Thursday afternoon and I arrived at my homestay with plenty of time to relax. Gina, her 2 dogs and cat were great hosts! Also, for those of you who do not know, Middlebury, CT is the headquarters of Timex. Keith Meyer and several other folks at Timex hosted several of us on the team on Friday and it was great to not only see several teammates, but also the Timex staff.Let me start by saying how well the Rev3 staff was at taking care of the pro athletes who were racing. We were provided complimentary pre-race massages, and personalized banners at our transition spots, just to name a few. For example, the shifting on my bike was a little off after the plane ride and I had no idea where a bike shop was in the area. I e-mailed my contact at Rev3 about the problem and 2 minutes later, literally 2 minutes, I got a call back from them.As for my race I knew it was going to be tough. I had been nursing a hip injury and was pretty sure that I was not going to run in an effort to save myself for IM CDA. As I said I was approaching this as a practice race so I was not too concerned or putting too much pressure on myself. However, I perhaps was not putting enough pressure on myself and I found that I was mentally having a hard time getting “psyched up” to race. I think another factor in this equation was the cumulative fatigue in my body from 2 months of solid Ironman specific training and 2 halfs. Unfortunately, this mental flatness translated into physical flatness on race day as well.I have been very happy with how my swimming has improved over the last several months, yet I am still having difficultly mastering the race tactics and sprinting involved at the beginning of a race amongst the pro field. I really wanted to have a good swim at Rev3 like I had at Cali 70.3 earlier in the year. I sprinted as hard as I could for 5 minutes and then my arms and shoulders seemed to decide that they were done. I had nothing in the tank and it was all I could to simply keep moving forwards on the course. The thought of simply quitting did enter my mind and right up until exiting T2 I was debating whether or not I should even ride. However, I decided to approach the bike as an up tempo training ride.The bike course at Rev3 is beautiful and very challenging. It seemed I was either mashing up a hill at 10mph or coasting down at 35mph. I focused on keeping a steady up tempo effort and felt ok a moments but the flatness in my legs remained.I rolled into T2 in 12th place, much to my surprise and decided that I would at least practice my T2 and try to run. After running out of transition and 500 feet down the road the pain in my hip was not horrible, but I did not want to set myself back for IM CDA, so I pulled out and headed to the massage tent.Although this race was probably one of the worst of my career thus far, the lessons continue and I certainly learned a thing or two about the mental aspects of racing. I found that racing without a goal, or without any pressure on myself that there was nothing pulling me forwards or encouraging me to dig down and find the energy and strength to fight on. This is really the first time that I have mentally given up in a race and it is a slippery slope. I find that when the pain and desire to quit creep into your mind during a race it never lasts very long. However, when it is coupled with self-doubt or lack of self-expectation is very easy to give in and say to yourself “you’re right, I can’t do this” or “I’m not good enough.” This begins the negative downward spiral that in many ways becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The trick is to give yourself little goals, such as “one more hill” or “1 more mile.” Most importantly, however, stay positive, no matter how much your doubt yourself and your body is screaming to stop, smile, focus on staying relaxed and stay positive. It really does wonders and soon you will feel better, I promise.In summary, my race a Rev3 was pretty horrific, yet is certainly an organization where I will considering racing again in the future, only hopfully under very different circumstances.