OVERCOMING DESPAIR
Paddy Cloete (Psychologist and Ironman)
paddycloete@mweb.co.za
082 413 6649; (041) 581 1318

Paul Huddle, a well respected triathlon coach who also competed as a top level pro for 11 years, once said, that he “came to the realization that training wasn’t just about the physical – swimming, cycling, and running; it was practising the mental stuff too. And probably the most important mental aspect is dealing with the things you are afraid of”. Whether you have just started with triathlon or whether you have been doing it for years, you will know that triathlon training and racing will evoke many emotions in you. Triathlon will take you to the highest highs but also the lowest of lows. One of these lows is despair.

Taylor, a sport psychologist, and Schneider, a former professional triathlete and multi sport endurance athlete, describe despair as one of the most difficult emotions to deal with, because despair is accompanied by a sense of hopelessness. When you feel despair, you have lost confidence in your ability to continue and your motivation disappears. The emotional turmoil that takes a hold of your mind then attacks your physical attributes that enable you to maintain your efforts and your heart rate, respiration and blood flow will soon follow. In other words, when you experience despair you give up mentally, which then makes you cease all your efforts leading to the conclusion that your efforts are hopeless because you will not succeed.

It is important to note the sequence of events. Despair does not follow tangible evidence that you are not physically capable. Despair leads to a loss of confidence in your physical ability which then results in you creating tangible evidence that you are not physically capable. When you feel despair, you stop believing that anything is possible, you stop believing that you can. When you give in to these beliefs, you stop trying, and when you stop trying, you stop performing physically. When you stop performing physically, you use this as evidence that it is hopeless, that you cannot do it and that you need to give up. Such a conclusion is not true, because the problem is not your physical ability, it is your mind.

Despair therefore results from the feeling that you have lost control over your performance. Despair may have physical causes, for example, you may have sustained an injury, become dehydrated and/or nutritionally deficient, or you may be in considerable pain. It can also result from equipment problems such as leaking goggles, gear malfunction, flat tyres or incorrect running shoes. Despair can arise in response to race conditions, for example, cold or rough seas, howling wind, pouring rain or a heat wave. It can also occur due to psychological changes, such as a significant loss of confidence following a poor swim or bike, failure to meet your pace expectations or discouragement from being passed by many competitors.

In all cases of despair, you feel that you have lost your ability to achieve your goals and will be unable to regain that ability. This is not true, because your physical ability has not changed, but because you believe it to be true, your body will follow to create the evidence to support this incorrect belief.

Mastering despair is difficult because you feel that you are at the very end of you rope and have little faith that you will succeed. As with other emotions, mastering despair is a choice you make. It is not an easy choice, because despair arises from not believing that you have a choice. However, even in the most challenging conditions, you always have a choice and there are always changes you can make to relieve your sense of despair. You may not resolve the situation completely, but you can make changes that will ease your despair and keep you going.

Overcoming despair starts with recognising that your red lights are flashing. When you despair, you mind sends a message to your body to do the same. You can counter these feelings by creating physical changes that resist the decline in intensity using techniques such as intense breathing (several hard, long inhales and exhales to get more oxygen into your system which increases your blood flow and adrenaline and energizes you), positive, high-energy self-talk and intensity keywords such as “go for it”, “you can do it”, “commit”, “focus” and “push”. These techniques will produce a physical state that counters the feelings of letdown that accompany despair and will spark your motivation and confidence.

The next step in conquering your despair is to understand its causes. The most difficult part of taking this step is being able to step back from the situation far enough to look at it objectively. If you can detach yourself from your despair briefly, you can usually identify its causes. Once you know what is causing your despair, you can make changes to resolve it. When I am with an athlete who is experiencing despair, I will typically ask them to share the thoughts that are occupying their mind at the time. A common response is that they are fixated on being tired. This is why it is important that you train on tired legs, because when you are racing and you feel tired, you can remind yourself that you have been there before and that you can pull through. It is also important to recognise that tiredness is a normal response to the exertion that you have put your body through, but that you have trained for this event and that tiredness is not a reason to give up. Tiredness is merely a normal reaction to what you are putting your body through and possibly an indication that you need to assess your pace, remind yourself of your race plan and pay attention to your nutrition.

In some causes, the cause of your despair can be addressed directly, for example, if you are dehydrated or calorie depleted, take more time at the next aid station to refuel and/or rehydrate. Unfortunately, not all causes of despair can be address directly, for example, your disappointment in having to do breaststroke during the swim or not being able to maintain your intensity on the bike or having to walk during the run and realising that you will not achieve your time goal. In these cases you still have choices.

Remember the most enduring human freedom is the ability to choose your attitude. You have the choice in how you choose to respond to your disappointment – you can choose to focus on your disappointment and allow this to spoil your entire day, maybe even allow you to give up or you may choose to celebrate every victory such as finishing the swim course one buoys at a time, finishing the bike course one loop or one aid station at a time, and continuing the run/walk till your reach the finishline. Apart from your attitude, you may have to adjust your goals. Even if you do not reach your time goal, you can still benefit from continuing your effort, doing your best, and learning from your experience. Just finishing means you have proven to yourself that you have the ability to overcome adversity, gain mastery over your emotions and did not give up.

A word of caution here, be careful not to adjust your goals too quickly. First consider that you have just hit a down period or slump. Remember Ironman is a long day, if you keep moving, you will get your second wind. Lewis Plug, the human polar, emphasises this point by reminding us that most battles are won in the 11th hour. Many a pro athlete has come back from a slump to win an Ironman. It is therefore important not to give in to despair too quickly.

Use the last few weeks leading up to Ironman 70.3 to prepare yourself to overcome despair by training your mind as vigorously as you do your body!
Acknowledgement to Taylor & Schneider (2005)