I greatly enjoy the chance to highlight the successes of my clients. And this column is no different. But the successes of these two athletes took a strange turn. Their successes are not defined by their finish times…as this race had no finishers. Unfortunately their big day, their Ironman, the race they’ve been working towards for 10 months, was cancelled – cancelled last-minute due to extreme weather conditions. When you have a goal that big & that time-consuming, to have that goal taken away is a tremendous let-down. How does one recover from such a disappointment? Caitlin & Jette’s stories are filled with answers – thankfulness, gratitude, pivots, & even laughter. These two athletes provide beautiful demonstrations of the healing power of mindful choice & resilience.
In Caitlin’s own words:
“I started checking the weather about 10 days before the race, well before I would consider the forecast ‘accurate’. It showed wind & rain. I thought, ‘It could change…and I’ve trained in Seattle, so it’ll be fine.’ As the days went by the forecast continued to show increasing amounts of rain & wind.
Ironically the days prior to race day were wonderful. Our test swim was lovely (hello, current!), the bike course beautiful & the run course engaging.
Race day (Sunday) was a complete weather change – we had wind & horizontal rain. There was no way to stay dry…which was OK because I figured I’d be swimming in an hour or two. As I headed into transition, an announcement came over the intercom that I couldn’t understand. But the reaction of the thousands of athletes prepping in the stadium field told me something wasn’t right. The announcement traveled athlete-to-athlete & when it reached me, I couldn’t quite believe it. CANCELLED. I was in shock, not sure what to feel. CANCELLED.
This was to be my first Ironman. I had trained for 10 months with no plans to do another. What now?? I started crying… In their defense, the organizers & city officials made the right call. The storm was INTENSE. It wasn’t safe for the racers or the volunteers. And it could have monopolized first responders who might be needed elsewhere.
After my initial cry, I had a little laugh. What were the odds that a historic storm fell on MY race day?? I called Coach Michelle & we talked about how perhaps the world was telling us that we weren’t meant to race that day. I thought about how brutal it would have been to race in that storm & I laughed a bit more. Then I started thinking about options.
Within 12 hours, Ironman sent the athletes an e-mail with different race options including 3 races in November: Arizona, Florida, and Cozumel. After looking at the courses & descriptions, I decided to try to get into Arizona. It would mean just 1 more month of training versus another whole year. When it was time to sign up, it was the classic “refresh repeatedly” situation. For about 15 min I tried to get one of the limited spots…until I saw “SOLD OUT”. The disappointment of not getting into Arizona was almost harder than my race cancellation since it was based on luck-of-the-draw rather than a historic weather effect! My family encouraged me to sign up for Cozumel or Florida, but I just knew my heart wasn’t in those races.
So for now, I have no plan. I am automatically signed up for next year’s Sacramento race & I have 2 weeks to decide if I’d like to move it to a different race. I am going to take all of that time. I had lots of plans for 2022 that didn’t involve 15-20 hour training weeks: Spanish, piano, quilting, backpacking, choir, etc. I was really looking forward to saying ‘yes’ to all sorts of other plans & spending more time with my partner. So, I’ll take the time. And as I do I will remember that I am GRATEFUL…
- That my body made it to race day with no injuries AND that I was READY!
- For the wonderful hours of training with friends & the joy it brought me to be outside, doing some of the sports I love
- That of the 2 big events I had scheduled this year (the other was climbing Mount Rainier), I only had terrible weather for 1 of them.
- To have met another athlete (Jette) of Coach Michelle’s & our time chatting about the race together – it was so nice to have an instant friend who understand my emotions & experience!
- For the volunteers & medical professionals who were prepared to keep us safe & supported during the event.
- For my friends & partner for making a rainy, windy, cancelled race day the best it could be with good food & board games.
- For my friends & family, who texted & called me with their kind words before AND after the race was cancelled. I felt so loved and supported.
- For Coach Michelle who’s positivity throughout training helped SO much & who continued that positivity & support before, during, & after race day.
- For being healthy & privileged enough to have the option to consider another race.
There is some sadness & disappointment, but mostly, there is gratitude for all of the above. Life is full of all sorts of ups & downs. And all things considered…this one is still pretty high up there!”
In Jette’s own words:
“So what do you do when you are in your wetsuit & ready to get on the bus to head to the swim start for your first Ironman….and they announce the race is cancelled….? Well you burst into tears….and then the volunteer next to you asks if she can hug you….and then both of you cry & hug each other….
When you are at the start line your thoughts are filled with ALL the hours of training & ALL the weekends you have spend swimming, biking and/or running. To have the race cancelled was incredibly disappointing & sad. But, truthfully, I was also a little relieved because the weather was HORRIBLE & the wind was CRAZY! The race directors definitely made the right decision – it would have been dangerous out there. The bike course was covered with fallen trees, part of the run course was flooded, & there was debris in the river.
The evening before the race we got the news that the bike was shortened to one 56-mi loop instead of two. When that news broke I realized that things could continue to change & I started to adjust my mindset to just ‘go with the flow’. Control what you CAN control & adjust to whatever else happens.
When the cancellation news broke, athletes’ reactions were quite different. Some got very angry & wanted to go race the course regardless because ‘It’s called Ironman for a reason…it’s supposed to tough.’ Some were mad that the line was so long to get out of the stadium & that they were getting cold. I couldn’t help thinking, ‘Hey, you don’t have anything else planned for today & if you’re already too cold how would you have survived on the course!’ As I listened to the various athlete reactions I decided I was thankful that I had made it this far, that I had my bike ready, that I had my prerace checklist laminated (in case of rain), & that I remained calm knowing that my list worked! I also decided to thank all the volunteers I met from that point on.
For the rest of that day I couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky I was for feeling well-trained & ready to go, that I had been given the opportunity to race, that a highlight of the trip was meeting Caitlin, & that my husband (Morten) & two of my friends (Megan & Beth) were with me as support crew. Support means everything.
Ironman gave us deferral options so I now had a new decision to make. One option was Arizona on Nov. 21 which, after some thinking, I decided was a good way to go. Unfortunately it sold out really fast & I was not one of the lucky ones. That hit me hard…
In the end I decided to take a break from scheduled workouts & restart the journey to Ironman California in 2022. This decision will give me time to work on a few things & be even more prepared! They say Ironman is all about the journey. This is so true. I have enjoyed every minute of this process & will be ready to jump back on the IM train! Guess I will now have to change my Instagram to ‘Jettes_road_to_im_cali2022’ instead of 2021! 😉
One final thing. I have experienced so much love & support my friends both in & out of the triathlon & swim communities. I have been so overwhelmed by all the supportive & caring Facebook & text messages. Thank YOU!”
