Coming into the 2012 Xterra World Championships there were two things that I had never experienced before in 15 years of racing triathlons internationally. The first was that I was a defending world champion. The second was that I have never gone into a major race before feeling relaxed, injury-free, and quietly confident I could get the job done.
Almost immediately after winning the Xterra World Championship in 2011, I was enveloped in anxiety and doubt that I could maintain world-beating form and dissuade the naysayers, imagined or otherwise, that said it was a fluke and a one-off.
It seemed to me that for every major race I had been in, including the 2011 Xterra Worlds, I was coming off an injury, recovering from sickness, or just feeling overwhelmed and wracked with self doubt.
But at the beginning of the summer I had something of an epiphany. I decided I was going to enjoy my time as World Champion, with or without the ever-present target on my back in training and in races. I would train like crazy, and just go as hard as I could on any given day and let the chips fall where they may. I had begun to switch my focus – stop worrying about what other people think and get grateful for every day I was lucky enough to be out doing what I love.
Then something weird happened. I won the ITU Cross Tri World Championships at the start of 2012 and my head began to clear a little. Then I won the Xterra USA Championships later in the year completing the consecutive off-road triathlon trifecta: Xterra Worlds, ITU Worlds, Xterra USA Championships.
Then I found myself definitely in uncharted waters: pretty much injury free, enjoying my training, enjoying my racing, winning races, and feeling confident. For me, I was now in a place that had no precedent.
Then people started to say how fast some of the girls were coming over from ITU and the Olympics to race 2012 Xterra Worlds: that they were too speedy on the swim, or they were great mountain bikers, or they had faster run splits than me. Instead of listening to all that crap, I decided to focus on myself. My race, on my terms and for MY enjoyment.
So, standing on the beach in Maui at the start of the Xterra 2012 Worlds I was a little nervous, but it was a good nervous, because I was ready to race and prove to everyone, including myself, that I wasn’t a one-off and that my race results from the previous 12 months weren’t a fluke. I relaxed, took a deep breath, looked at my mantras of “Be Brave” and “I am Free” scrawled across my forearms and thought….BRING IT ON!
This race for me was truly THE BEST race I’ve ever had. I felt physically and mentally on top form, I enjoyed every minute of it and I had my 2 biggest supporters out there to experience it with me – my husband and my pops!
Thanks to all of my supporters – you know who you are!!
