Overcoming setbacks - Intelligent Racer Podcast interviews
Marni Sumbal, MS, RD
Setbacks are no fun. They are frustrating, distracting and depressing. Life is messy, with no shortage of obstacles to overcome.
As an athlete, I recognize that setbacks are bound to happen. While some setbacks, like a cancelled race, an injury or sickness are frustrating, there are much more serious risks in life. Setbacks often put life into perspective and make you feel grateful for the great/good days.
Knowing that setbacks happen to everyone, we must not view them as failures.
Over this season, Karel and I have had a lot of athletic success. I feel like we are reaching our prime years of endurance triathlon racing as we feel incredibly strong, resilient, healthy and confident with our athletic abilities. Plus, we are having a lot of fun training and racing.
Although our triathlon season has given us great success, it has not been without its setbacks. While I wouldn't consider our setbacks life-changing/altering, every athlete has his/her own way of dealing with a disappointment and however you look at it, setbacks are physically, emotionally and mentally challenging.
Our friend/athlete Adam with the Intelligent Racer Podcast provided us both with a platform to share our recent health-related setbacks going into two important races of the season (Ironman Lake Placid for Karel and the Ironman 70.3 World Championship for me). If you have recently experienced a setback, we hope that you can find some inspiration in our stories as you turn your setback into a comeback.
The ups and downs of a triathlon season (overcoming a DNS at IM 70.3 WC due to fainting on race day morning to becoming the 2017 female amateur Ironman Chattanooga champion 2 weeks later).
In case you missed the full recaps, here are the blogs that I wrote about these events:
Karel - Ironman Lake Placid
Marni - Ironman 70.3 World Championship and Ironman Chattanooga
