I think I need to race more.
Not to race to win, but to learn how to suffer.
I do suffer, but I suffer from going out too slow in races.
What I need to learn is how to be comfortable suffering from the second a race starts until the second a race ends. And racing is the best way to improve on this ability.
I just need to…stand at the starting line not caring about how I’m going to finish or what my end pace is going to end up being. Hell, screw pacing all together.
Professional Ironman triathlete Balázs Csöke said in an interview, “I can’t even explain to someone how there is no going slow. When you get out from the water, you sit on a bike and you ride as hard as you can for 112 miles, and then you start running, and you go as fast as you can for 26 miles. It hurts from the first moment of the start. And it’s going to hurt for eight and a half hours. Without a second’s rest.””
I have yet to learn how to do that. During the Heart of the Hills 17km race I took the first 5k relatively easy. I rested for the first 1/3rd of the race for god sake!
During the final 1/3rd I can suffer, however. I always try to keep in mind what Yuki Kawauchi said when he stated “Every time I run, it’s with the mindset that if I die at this race it’s OK.” Unfortunately, I can’t seem to do that at the beginning of an event.