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Surviving the DNF...

Friday, 06 January 2017 23:10

By Triathlete.com

The definitive four-step plan for turning a “did not finish” into a training triumph

DNF (“did not finish”) is perhaps the ickiest phrase in triathlon. The DNF is the dreaded end result where something goes wrong and you’re forced to drop out, whether you wanted to (think: uncooperative stomach, injury) or not (missed a time cutoff). One perplexing element in longer course racing is that you can cross the finish line of a half-iron or iron-distance race and still be an official DNF. This happens especially with time-trial or rolling swim starts, when everyone starts at different times or in...

different waves. The course may officially close at midnight, as in the case of an Ironman; however, if you start at 6:40 a.m., and the time limit is 17 hours to finish, then “your” midnight is 11:40 p.m., not midnight. So for the sake of simplicity, the race allows you to cross the finish up to midnight, but you can still be a DNF, depending on where you started in the swim.

At Ironman Lake Placid last year, my husband was cheering me on the run course, shouting, “You have until midnight! You have four more hours!” And I remember thinking, “Yay!” and then realizing he didn’t know when I went into the water, and I only had 3 hours and 45 minutes left. So my midnight was actually 11:45 p.m. (And I made it by the skin of my teeth around 11:29 p.m.) I have not DNFed a race (yet), but I have been very close in two of the biggest races of my life. I had a bad experience in one of them, where I wasn’t sure if I would make it, and my Garmin was dead, so I had no idea where I was, timing-wise. As a triathlon coach, I have had a few athletes DNF, and I know the heartbreak and devastation associated with it. First of all, it just sucks, and it’s OK to be sad about it. But after wallowing for a day or two, realize that a DNF is simply a gift in disguise—a chance to improve your physical and mental game. Here’s how to turn the crusty nugget of a DNF into gold. READ MORE

(Illustration by Kristina Micotti)