Challenge!!!!

Have  you ever had a race where your feelings during the race were completely different than your feelings after the race, say about 2 minutes after you looked at the results? PIC Michelle and I were talking about this a few weeks back, how especially in the early season sometimes you feel like your on fire, only to look at the results and be disappointed. I think as triathletes most of us have been there. It's usually later in the season that you are more shocked by your results, at least I tend to be. At that point the work has amassed and fitness is harder to predict. PIC and I got to talking and thought that one day, we should race a race and just agree that we weren't ever going to look at the results. Do you think you could do it? It would be even cooler if you then promised to never blog about what you were doing, and never tweet about it. But I'm not that good, and here I am blogging about it.

Michelle and I are racing a sprint triathlon this weekend. Chuckie has already told us that it's going to be pretty funny, because PIC and I are squarely in Ironman training. But that's OKAY, because Michelle and I will never know how we ACTUALLY did.

Yup, we're going for it. We are never, ever going to look at our results for the race.

Now, with an epic challenge like this one there needs to be some rules.

One: if Michelle cheats, then she has to give up coffee for 1 month. If I cheat, I have to loan her my Vitamix for one month.

Two: As far as Garmins go, the only data that is allowed is Heart Rate. No pace, no time, no distance (got that PIC?).

Three: And this is where you all come in. YOU CAN NOT TELL US OUR RESULTS. You see, if either of us "find out" our results through others, we LOOSE the bet. So if you tell PIC then she has to quit coffee, and if you tell me then I loose my Vitamix. Troy will be moderating comments and if he sees any funny business, your comment will be deleted, because he's a lover of the Vitamix too.

Four: Although Chuckie is having us ride after the race, we are allowed to show up for awards. But it's old school and we will have no idea if we got an award.

I think it's really good sometimes to get away from the results. We can do it easily enough in training by going Caveman every once in awhile. But in racing now-a-days, who does that? Who just puts it all out there and then lets it lie? Also, it's good to become more in tune with your body. Shouldn't you have an internal sense of distance, pace, exertion? Macca does, Rinny does, Chrissie does, Angela does. The best do.

Also, I think it's important to think about why you compete in triathlons. Everyone says: it's fun! If we do it for fun then why do we look at results? It's a challenge...don't need results for that. How about, "When I see how fast I am it makes me feel good about myself". That one sounds a little self centered and egotistical, but honestly, can most of us deny that statement? We often want tangible numbers to attach to the work we put into training, we want to know how we compare to others. Is this really the most healthy thing after every race?

I don't know, but I do know that this weekend I want to try not knowing. I want to know what that feels like, and I want to explore what comes up inside me as a result. I hope it gives me further insight into the athlete that I am, and what makes me tick. Because I do know one thing, I do triathlons to know more about myself, to test my limits both emotionally and physically. That means trying new things sometimes (lots of times).

Challenge!!!!!!