The Psychology of Alcatraz

First things first… this post is not about race strategy or how to mentally prepare for an event like the Escape from Alcatraz (I will cover that in a later post). What this post is about, is what an event like Alcatraz can do for you psychologically. No worries, I am no psychotherapist and certainly not a psychoanalyst and hence it will all be very simple. Just one question: What kind of impact does having a big goal have on your life?

Here I am, sitting on my packed bags, ready to head off to San Francisco. The last couple of weeks have all flown past in a blur and yet, they have been amazing weeks, with an immensely positive impact on my life. Preparing for the race and getting my head around it has affected almost all areas of my life. In retrospect, I have gone through quite a lot of changes, both physically and psychologically.

Psychologically, it is no secret that having a goal to work towards is huge motivation, provides focus. However, initially I thought, that the Escape from Alcatraz was maybe a little too big of a goal for me, especially considering the swim. But I have gone from an ‘I will try’ attitude to a ‘YES, I can’ attitude. And part of it is that it just seems slightly larger than me. I would consider myself an intrinsically motivated person, that is, I am not doing it for the money or other material rewards. I am happy, when I complete a challenge that I have set myself.

After I finished my PhD at the beginning of the year, I fell a bit into a hole, because I had no goal. Life was good and I deserved a break, but I do not function like that. And so I entered an Olympic Distance triathlon in August, double the distance of what I had done and August would give me plenty of time to prepare. Then Alcatraz popped up, like a big beacon, lights flashing, and with a bit of time pressure. Just about 3 months to get ready for it. Here it was, in bright bold letters, my new goal.

Training and racing wise, the past couple of weeks have been a huge confidence builder. I’ve done track sessions, where mere weeks ago I would have probably bailed out (15x 400m in 83 sec with 30 sec rest). I have completed an 83 mile bike ride over hilly terrain at a higher average pace than I was able to ride for just 30 miles in March. In races, I discovered, I am actually competitive, although that particular discovery stood a bit on shaky legs until last weekend.

Last weekend, marked my first target race of the season, the British Sprint Triathlon Championships, which doubled up as a qualifier for the World Championships in Beijing (2011) and as a qualifier for the European Championships 2012 in Israel. I entered the race to see where I am at in comparison to other athletes in my age group. At the start of the season, I never really believed I would be able to contest for a place, because I am in a strong age group. But come the week-end, with Alcatraz just mere days away, I thought to myself, ‘Let’s go, let’s give this a good whack! – Why would I not be able to contest?’ At a minimum, I would make other people work hard for their place.

From driving the bike course, it didn’t look like my cup of tea and I didn’t like the idea of riding the first half of it aggressively (because it was mainly uphill). But I came out the lake, was close to tears by the time I got into transition because I could not undo my wetsuit (that velcro just had more sticking power than my scrawny arms had pulling power). By the time I was on my bike and in my shoes, I was furious with myself – and so I took it out on the bike. Strangely, I hardly noticed the long uphill drag, the proper hill I spun up remembering the Schiehallion (see the Etape Caledonia blog post), and on the downhills which I thought might pose a problem, I kept pedalling for my life. Going into T2, my confidence was high as a kite and I knew the run was mine. The results showed, I had finished 6^th in my age group and had the fastest run split in my age group. The race was the perfect stage to put it all together and nudge my confidence to the top: YES, I CAN… and now bring on the sea swim!

In my life outside sports, the Escape has had quite some impact as well, mainly in terms of providing focus. Like many employers, my work is currently going through redundancies. At any time, this would have been really bad news for me psychologically because it would have likely dragged me into a spiral of worry and panic. However, with the focus on Alcatraz I addressed the problem completely differently. I stayed positive because I focused on training and preparing, planning something I would enjoy and that would be good for me. I stayed level headed and focused, and yet the training helped to disperse all the stress and fears and the excitement about the race and the challenge outweighed the doom and gloom.

The positive power a big event can have on your life should not be underestimated. It will pull you through the dark valleys and keep you going when you are struggling. They provide a positive focal point when the world around you seems to fall apart. Having a challenge in your life provides you with a huge confidence boost – every little step, every tough workout will build it up and let your confidence grow like a flower. And seeing that flower grow will give you joy each day, even if you are not the gardening type.

So, my bags are packed, I’m ready to go and buzzing with excitement, filled with confidence that I can actually do this. I’m under no illusion that it will be hard, but it will be amazing!

PS: Just as I post this, the news are coming through… not only did I contest the race last weekend, I managed to qualify for the ITU World Sprint Triathlon Championships in Beijing in September. YES, I CAN!!