A huge piece of competing in any type of event is the mental component. It’s one thing to embrace a physical challenge: we set goals, train, we eat right, and come race day, we are hopefully at our peak performance.

But how do we prepare mentally for what may await us on race morning? Ironically, it helps to have faced mental challenges in training – that is, training in the pouring rain, extreme heat or cold, or other horrendous weather conditions. But as we so often say (usually in reference to marathon day), “Any given Sunday.” Although we are usually more “worried” about the weather (which we have absolutely no control over), it’s often the one thing that we DO have control over that causes us the most difficulty – our minds.

At Saturday’s Half Ironman with Lori, we woke up at 2:30 a.m. to extremely windy conditions. As her support crew, we tried to keep her calm as the wind almost knocked us down while we were watching her set up her transition area, assuring her that it would be fine.  When it came time to head a mile down the beach to begin the 1.2 mile swim, the wind picked up and made even walking in the sand hard. Lots of the athletes donned their wetsuits and were “testing the water” literally. Worried expressions, sick stomachs, and even obvious fear gripped both the athletes and the spectators.

In a bold, decisive, and responsible act, the race directed canceled the swim 20 minutes before the first wave was to take off. Although disappointed, the athletes showed enormous relief and gratitude for the decision.

So, how do you get your head back in the game? Most of these athletes had trained for 6 or more months, and for most, the swim is the most difficult part. Therefore, they often sacrificed other elements of their training to concentrate on the swim portion.  Now, they are told that they will substitute a 2.1 mile run for the swim portion to maintain the 70.3 mile equivalent difficulty.

Some fared better than others. The ones who were able to postpone their frustration and focus on the task at hand prevailed – with FOCUS being the operative word. Everyone’s plans had changed – pros and amateurs alike.

Everyday we are tested in some way both mentally and physically. Les Brown is fond of saying, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Every time we are faced with a challenge, we are given an opportunity to grow stronger.

We won’t all pass every test we face. But if we stay the course and don’t give up, we will emerge victorious.

Lori had a great day in Benton Harbor – she switched gears, kept her head in the game, and focused on the task at hand. She even set a personal record in the half marathon portion of the race. She was a true winner.