[Part V of Race journal: Tri Santa Cruz, August 2018] What I learned and what worked (or not)

[Forked from the entire race report for ease of reading]

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[Part IV of Race journal: Tri Santa Cruz, August 2018] 11 days of August, and the race day!

• It takes a village:
• I can't stress this enough- I may have done the miles on the final day, but it is a huge effort from a lot of people that went into this. Starting from team Asha, Coach Char, the alumni/captains, the coords, my cohort, my swimming coach, my HIIT instructor and the gang there- everyone did their part in making this happen. Thank you! I am thrilled to have a group I love to train with (I always did all prior race trainings alone, sigh). Having James around as a huge support and also training for his own races was a huge inspiration. My brother, who also started doing triathlons more recently, was as usual a fun companion to discuss anything under the sun with! All my other friends who cracked jokes at my expense as I put myself through yet another day of training, but nevertheless supported me in their own ways- thank you, everyone! 
• The mountain will always be there: 
• Throughout my training, I was always restless. James would wisely comment that the mountain will always be there, there will always be another race. I also remember telling my swimming coach that I wanted to go faster and she would tell me, lets fix your technique first. I also remember telling Coach that I'm so slow on the bike when he would say we all finished strong. I can't say I have fully learnt my lesson here, but maybe I'm 2% closer than what I had started. There isn't much point in rushing through the baby steps that you absolutely need to take.
• I was one of the 'new people' in the program who had never been with Team Asha before and who also did not have a strong running/biking/swimming background. This very much clashed with my crazy goal of wanting to do more and go faster, but I also realized that I couldn't jump some steps (doesn't mean I couldn't say that I wanted to swim to the bridge anyway:D)
• Know what works for you, prepared or winging:
• Not everyone is built the same way. I am definitely someone who needs to plan. Knowing that about me, really helped. There were plans for all weeks and all days. There was a list for what had to be done even in the final half hour between when I woke up and when we left for Santa Cruz. I'm aware that not everything is in your control, but whatever is, I love to plan the hell out of it. I feel you've got to know what works best for you and put yourself behind that strategy.
• Automate/Rehearse whatever you can:
• Wherever I could, I decided to simplify life by eliminating the number of things I had to plan for. For instance, working out on consecutive days during summer meant a constant need for laundry. But I wasn't always home enough or didn't have enough energy to finish one cycle. So I just found enough workout clothes at a decent price that would sustain me through 4 days without having to worry. Similarly, I started keeping a perpetual gym bag with me which had enough of the products I liked to use to make sure that lack of being home wasn't a reason to skip a workout. 
• In the same vein as above, I found it extremely helpful to practice using everything that I would on race day so that nothing was new.  In the mock tri, I even got along the race belt that I wanted to wear. I knew which bar I liked, which flavor of Nuun motivated me to drink more water (true story!) and which one made me want to throw up. 
• Good gear/clothing matters:
• I realized I didn't have to overdo it, but small tweaks along the way made the ride smoother. For instance, I remember feeling a sunburn on my arms during biking in early rides. As a result, I started wearing either a full sleeve jersey or a thin rain jacket, both of these made me sweat like crazy. Also, I would leave the jacket partly open for the air and one of the bike captains pointed out that it might be slowing me down. I remember talking to Hardeep and ended up buying a pair of arm sleeves- best decision ever, and solved the problem. 
• Nutrition:
• I never skipped breakfast and also made it a point to drink extra water on the days when we went for our bike rides in the sun. I kept a Nalgene at work which I aimed to finish before I left for the day and I kept a Nalgene next to my bed which I aimed to finish before I left for work. I drank water between workouts and after too. I don't know if this made as much of a difference but once I became more regular, I felt more energy throughout the day. I also made it a point to eat a light snack (banana/greek yogurt mostly) an hour before a workout, especially if it was during the weekday. I also tried my best to get some protein right after a workout (chocolate milk/greek yogurt yet again!)
• Know the why: Is this the end or is this a step?
• This was probably my most important lesson. Just like everyone else, I had a lot going on in my life other than the triathlon and I was very tempted to put all of it on hold to focus on my training. But I realized that I wasn't doing a triathlon as a one time thing that will end after August 12. Sure, I needed to give up some things temporarily, but I wanted this to become a more gradual part of my life. For this, it was important to not give up other big things- my other races, my backpacking trip, the extra hours that a new team sometimes required, skipping a session to cheer someone else for their big race..It was really important for me to know why I am doing this and not unfairly compare myself to anyone else. This was going to be my journey, so I better be writing the script for it.
• Don't skip the mental training: 
• As I mentioned in my experience above, this was an important factor in me finishing and trying new things during training. Somedays I felt a little disconcerted that I was planning way out to do things that I knew my body wasn't ready for yet, but deciding that the two things are independent helped me keep up my spirits and confidence throughout- even when the results didn't. 
• What could have worked better?
• I definitely need to work on my nutrition outside of the workout sessions. I don't cook as much and my diet could definitely be healthier. In addition, I'm excited to try out protein powders!
• Spin sessions: Given my general feelings towards riding next to vehicular traffic, I realize that I need to go out and ride more but also engage in more spin sessions to make sure I don't lose out on developing those muscles. I also need to get those cleats.
• Less mental agony about the slow pace of progress: This one is less specific to triathlon for me, but if the mind is flustered, think of what the body will do.
• Know when to push, but know when not: I know I can run faster than I do, but due to a multitude of factors, I am hesitant about pushing myself- this is an area where I need to work! But at the same time, sometimes I went overboard with training and got too tired and even fell sick. I'm slowly getting better at listening to my body.
• Work on strength or weakness? This one is tricky. If I was good at a certain thing, should I keep doing that to get better and make that my stronghold, or do I push on the other two to get everything up to a certain level. I handled this one not so well and often ended up skipping one for the sake of other.

What's next?
I am using the time to train myself to be stronger and faster in each of the individual sports. I really hope to attempt atleast one Ironman 70.3 event next year :D Am I there yet? Miles from it- but when did reality ever get in the way of leaping before I look!