People participate in races for lots of different reasons. Some want to win! Some see completing the event as a major challenge and want to see if they can actually do it. Some want to engage with their community (meet new people!), and local races are a fun way to do that. Some see racing as a way to remain on a path of self improvement, and that in and of itself is enough motivation to continue.
Personally, I’ve been in all of those camps over the years. And having been a coach now for most of my adult life, I’ve worked with athletes with motivations across the spectrum as well. They’re all valid reasons to scan your local race calendar and press submit on the entry forms of the races that pull at your heart!
What I’ve found over the years is that regardless of why we race, we can use races as opportunities for self improvement. A great way to do that is to spend some time doing a Race Reflection. Post race, ask yourself a set of questions:
What were my expectations going in?
How did it go overall? Include anything that contributed (+/-) to your race result → Include info about pacing, fueling, conditions, mindset, effort, etc.
What did you do well? Be specific.
If you could go back and do it again, what would you change?
How do you want to move forward?
Commonly, we learn more from races that don’t go well than from races that do. I’ll use myself as an example here, so you can get a feel for what I mean.
Waimea Bay 1.2 mile ocean swim race, June 28.
My expectations going in: I was confident in my swim fitness and expected to swim well.
How it went down: When the horn blew, I gave a strong effort at the start and got myself in a small group heading toward the rock. The women started 3min behind the men, which meant that we caught some of the slower men pretty early on. My vision has been deteriorating these past few months, but I didn’t give much thought to how that would affect me until I was almost kicked in the head by a guy doing breaststroke - I didn’t see him until I was almost on top of him. Once I realized this, I had to react quickly to avoid getting kicked.
When I got around the rock, I was surprised by how blinded I was. I couldn’t see the buoy we were meant to go around at all, but I trusted myself and decided to not worry about it. Head down just keep swimming! I was slightly concerned that I was all alone - couldn’t see anyone around me at all - but again, trusted myself and didn’t stop to check to see if I was on a good line. Eventually though, since I still wasn’t seeing anyone near me, I decided it was probably in my best interest to stop and take a look around, When I did that, I realized that I’d veered pretty far left and was not on the most efficient line. That was frustrating, and I tried to correct it. Eventually, I got around the far buoy, but knew I had been way off. I swam towards shore and eventually made it in, feeling some disappointment in how I’d executed that.
What did I do well? I had a good start and a decent first 500.
What would I do differently if I could do it again? I would have taken my deteriorating vision issues more seriously. Specifically, I would have shifted my trust from myself to my peers — meaning that I would have been way more focused on staying with other people, since my far vision isn’t currently good enough to keep me on the best line when I’m alone. Plus, I tend to swim with a stronger effort when I’m in a group.
How did I want to move forward? I realized a few things at that race. First- when I’m swimming alone and not specifically following someone, I tend to pull left. This likely means that my right arm is crossing over, or my left arm is wide upon catch/pull. Second- when I can’t see clearly, I tend to be more cautious in the way I move through the world. In swimming, this shows up with a weaker, more cautious stroke.
In the two weeks between races, I focused specifically on a few things when I was swim training: I became consciously aware of my right arm crossing over, and I made attempts to widen that out. And then I frequently closed my eyes more often when swimming and intentionally made myself pull with strong solid efforts, showing my brain that I don’t necessarily have to see everything around me in order to pull with strong effort.
Chun’s to Waimea 1.6 mile ocean swim race, July 12
My expectations going in: I was still confident in my swim fitness, but very aware that my race execution was highly dependent upon me getting with, and staying in, a group. At the very least, I needed to swim near/behind one person. This was my number one goal.
How it went down: I started near the outside buoy. Since men and women all started together, I figured my best bet would be to swim my own strong solid effort for the first few minutes, then look around and find someone who was near me, and jump on their feet. And that’s exactly what I did. By the time my watch vibrated the first 500yd lap, I was on a good set of feet. I define ‘good set of feet’ by the fact that he was swimming consistently (no breast stroke surprises!) and I had to give a reasonably strong effort to stay there. At times, I felt someone touching my feet, which I actually sort of like, because it meant that we had (at least) a train of 3, and I like being in groups/packs when I swim. Once I was in that group, my sole focus was to stay there, and I did that. I never even tried to look up - not even once - and before I knew it, I’d been lead to the finish buoy and was running up the beach. I made a point to thank my guide for doing such an awesome job navigating that course. Turns out, I was drafting Jaco, the main sponsor of this particular race! He told me that at one point he looked back and realized it was me drafting him, and said he didn’t mind pulling me at all. Win/win! And huge mahalo to Jaco.
What I did well: I got myself on good feet, didn’t overthink anything, and pulled strong the whole way.
What I would do differently if I could do it again: Absolutely nothing. What I did was best case scenario for me that day.
How do I want to move forward: One race left in this series (2 weeks until the last swim). I’ll continue working on my endurance/durability in training because the next one will be 10-15min longer than this one was. And my execution goals will be the same - get in a good group early, and stay there.
Looking back now, I’m glad that Waimea Bay swim went as poorly as it did. It was a good reminder that these ocean swim races aren’t just about fitness — they’re about strategy too. And honestly, that makes them way more interesting! I’m proud of myself for honestly assessing my weaknesses and making a plan to work around them so I could get the most out of myself on the day.
Great to hear how this went down! The post race reflection is so incredibly important. It's astounding to me how often I see no comments in post race TP uploads... Even when I ask for specifically for thoughts on fueling, pacing, mental energy, struggles etc- and of course.. what went well and what didn't. And I completely agree that the races that don't go well can often provide the most learning for how to navigate and improve for the next one.
I really enjoyed reading this Michelle. Interesting content and such good writing skills :-)