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The Art of the DNS...

Wednesday, 01 March 2017 23:10

Four ways to know that sleeping in on race day might be the best race plan of all.

By Meredith Atwood (triathlete.com)

Heading into Ironman Louisville in 2015, I was extremely positive and hoping to redeem myself from the horrific race (albeit a finish) that was my Ironman Lake Placid a few months earlier. I was feeling hopeful, and ready to race. Then I went on a bike ride about 12 weeks prior to race day and I crashed, landing on the same hip that already dealt with labreal tear issues—the result of the crash? I couldn’t lift my leg to get onto my bike. Small detail. (“Well, get on the other side!” Not that easy. Couldn’t really stand on it single-legged either. Quite a quandary.) Still, I pushed on and I was about 50% better. With less than four weeks until race day, I had finally pushed my riding mileage up to what would be somewhat of an acceptable “Hail Mary” ride distance pre-Ironman, and *WHAM*—my car was...

t-boned at 55 mph by a driver running a red light. On top of that, we had a death in the family. It was pretty easy to look down the line four weeks and say, “Yeah, I am not going to even show up to Ironman Lou.”

But I showed up that day. I raced, and it went down as the Best Race Ever for me. At least, that was the hashtag I used, and honestly, it was a really great race. Most of all, I enjoyed it.

So, in light of those circumstances, how did I know that showing up and racing was the “right” call? In circumstances like this, with the looming question of “should I start this race or not,” I like to ask myself three questions:  READ MORE