More Perfect-er

A last-minute race change can be the best thing that could have happened…no matter what it is.

The pandemic introduced epic race changes and cancellations to our sport, and while races have returned to normal, last-minute changes seem to be sticking around. 

This year, three of my 100s made last-minute course changes:

• A week before the race, Fall Creek 100 re-routed around extensive tornado damage because park staff couldn’t clear all the trails in time for the race.

• The day before, No Business 100 re-routed through the river because the main bridge failed an inspection.

• Two days before, Tarawera 100 changed from a point-to-point into a lollipop with a repeated loop due to flood damage.

A week before the race, a client in Brazos Bend 100 learned the race was postponed a month for flooding concerns from an incoming rain storm.

And even more common, pacers and crew can change at the last minute.

You spent months training and planning this race to perfection.

Whatever the change, you didn’t expect it - especially at the last minute - so it puts you on the defensive.

You immediately look at how it affects you and what you’ll have to do to compensate.

You also complain - aloud or in your head - about how it shouldn’t have happened and how it’s going to hurt your race.

And how you won’t be able to have the race you wanted.

The change isn’t going away, so seeing it as a bad thing isn’t helpful.

You think of all the ways it’s going to make the race harder, slower, and less likely to finish. 

And you predict more bad to come in the race: “See, things are already going wrong. What else is going to happen?”

So you start the race expecting things to go wrong.

You run braced for problems - far less than your best performance. 

And you feel less in control so you’re more likely to give up and drop than to solve problems.

Definitely not the race you wanted.

So why not try see the last-minute change as good? Like, really good.

How is it the best thing that could have happened to you?

What if this is good luck, an opportunity, a gift from the ultra gods in disguise and you’re turning it down because you didn’t expect it?

It’s totally possible the change is a good thing, and you can find proof…if you’re willing to look.

A last-minute change isn’t inherently good or bad, your brain just focuses so intently on the “bad” column you forget a “good” column even exists.

To shift your thinking in time for the race, you need to learn and become adept at changing your thoughts. You have to learn to entertain another possibility when the negative seems so true.

At Fall Creek, the re-route onto pavement gave me fast miles I needed.

At No Business 100, the last-minute change spiced up a familiar course with an exciting new adventure on new trail. 

At Tarawera 100, an unfamiliar course in an unfamiliar country (New Zealand) the second loop - now familiar territory - meant I could relax for a welcome moment. I also needed one less drop bag, a huge win on an international flight.

And the client at Brazos Bend 100 got exactly enough time to add the extra confidence-boosting training race he was wishing for, a perfect month out from the postponed race. Total win.

You may not have chosen the change but you do get to choose how you see it.

You can turn it into an advantage - more perfect-er than the perfect you imagined.