How Honest Self-Reflection Can Make You a Stronger Multi-Sport Athlete

Your race was a day or two ago. You’re ready to move on, and you’re already thinking about your next training block that will lead to your next race. 

Wait!! Time out! Don’t do that…yet!

If you just move on, you’re not going to squeeze out all the benefits you can from that last race. Yes, rest and recover physically. But you must ask some questions of yourself if you want to improve and, ultimately, get faster.

You must stop and evaluate that race you just did. How do you do that effectively? You ask yourself questions. You think about the answers. You must be honest with yourself. So, below are suggested questions to help you evaluate that recent effort. Again, be honest and think carefully about your answers.

• If you could back the clock up 24 to 48 hours and repeat that race, what would you do differently this time?
• Based on your answer to #1, what did you learn (big picture)?
• Did you warm up sufficiently? Seriously. Did you jog/stretch/jog/stretch? Did you swim a bit before the race, obviously, if they let you? 
• Was your transition area neat and simple?
• Was your bike in the correct starting gear, considering what the first mile of the bike profile looked like? 
• Was all your nutrition needed on the bike and was it secure?
• Did you walk the pathway from the swim exit to T2 and know exactly where your bike was…knowing the exact rack it was on?
• Did you go out too fast on the swim? (Most do)
• Did you position yourself in the right place so you didn’t get clobbered? 
• Did you run short on breath? Did you start to mini-panic? If so, how did you handle it?
• Did you think/concentrate on your stroke technique?
• How was your sighting of the buoys? Did you swim straight?
• Did you walk or jog or sprint to your bike? Should you have gone faster? Slower?
• Did you get in and out of T1 using “controlled speed,” so to speak?
• How did your bike mount go? Smooth? 
• If your shoes were clipped into your pedals, did you take your time getting up to speed before you got your feet in them?
• Did you take in your nutrition and fluids according to your plan (assuming, of course, you had one.)
• Did you remember to pace yourself to be set up well for your run?
• How did your dismount go? Smooth? Are you confident and quick while pushing your bike to your bike spot/rack?
• Smooth T2? In and out with controlled speed?
• Did you ease just a bit into the run? How did your legs adapt from cycling to running?
• Big questions – Did you negative split the run? Each mile just a bit faster than the previous? (This applies to sprint and Olympic distances.)
• How was your energy level? Did you take in enough calories, electrolytes, and fluids to feel strong on the run?
• Did you save a little something for that last ½ mile?
• Did you get in a bit of protein and carbs within 30 minutes of finishing?
• Did you thank the race director and volunteers?

There you go. Evaluate carefully. Be brutally honest. Now, back to question #1. What would you do differently if you could go back and do that race again right away?

Race. Evaluate. Learn. Improve. Race again…better than before.