"Entitled to Nothing" 70.3 Pan Am Pro Championship

I've written a few versions of my race report for 70.3 Panama, each one was the usual prep, travel, race day conditions, blah blah.  I scrapped all of that and decided to share what I really took away from this race.  So, here goes.
I have a confession. Lately, I’ve been binge-watching House of Cards on Netflix and my favorite Kevin Spacey scene is the "You Are entitled To Nothing" speech. 

​I know that simply working hard does not entitle me to success.  There is something else that must come into play, something beyond consistent hard work, dedication and putting in the miles. Something that is so far down the well you never thought the well was so deep to begin with. 
I like to think I got a little closer to that in Panama this year.

Conditions were hot, humid, a bit breezy.  None of these were factors for me that day.  I’m used to training in - and prefer to race in – heat. I did the right training and have been pleasantly surprised by some early season run mojo. None of those were significant factors for me that day either.  For me, the real test came in the last few miles of the race. 
That is where I walked right up to the edge of that well, looked in it and longed to see how deep it was.

I’ll back up a little bit. I pushed hard on the bike and this was successful thanks in part to some recent tweaks to my bike fit and setup.  Thanks also to the reality of racing a half-iron distance race, without the luxury to work into a pace, like Ironman racing.  When my legs started to burn, I simply pushed them harder. Because of this, I came off the Cinta Costera and finished the bike in a respectable position with decent, but not undoable, time gaps to close.
As soon as I started running I knew I was going to go well, so I clicked off the miles at my “comfortably uncomfortable” pace, along the Panama Canal. About 8 miles in, I was in a podium position.  At this point I became very stubborn because I will not let a podium spot go. Ever. Period. Despite that stubbornness, there were plenty of world-class runners there with the same thoughts, so thinking I ever had any position “in the bag” was not an option.  And as I moved into 2nd place with less than a mile to go, the mental weight of those ladies behind wanted to drag me down.  But that’s exactly when you remember you are not entitled to anything, you find out how deep that well is, when your mind and your heart demand your legs to just….keep…..moving….forward.

I made many deals with myself in the final 1k of that run.  The cliché sayings and outright demands went on and on.  One thing I can guarantee is there is no Chariots of Fire playing in my head.  So at the finish line, and not one step further, I was done. And thrilled with my runner-up position!

All the lessons I learned in this race were about mental toughness, that I CAN and WILL go as hard and as long as I need to perform my best.  But you can be sure that because I did well at this race, I don’t think that entitles me to do well at the next one - thanks a lot, Kevin Spacey!