Training in a new sport

One of the major stresses of competing, no matter which sport you choose, is trusting your training.  Even if you're well prepared, often there's a niggle of doubt right before you go down the centerline, or out of the start box.  Have I done enough? Am I ready?  

As a competitive dressage rider, I have a bit of confidence.  I've competed enough to have an idea of how things are likely to go in a test, and what I can do if they start to go wrong.  My new competitive sport, distance running, brings up a whole new set of challenges. I don't have any experience at it.  What can a person do when starting a new sport, or even a new level of the same sport?  Trust your training! Sometimes that's not easy to do, but it's the only chance a newbie has at a feeling of confidence.  In my first Half Marathon, on January 16th, I had to accept that I didn't know how to run 13.1 miles in a race atmosphere.  I had trained according to the guidelines, and if those were to be trusted, I was ready.  A Half Marathon is a fairly big demand: Would I hurt myself, or worse, disappoint myself? What if I turned into a weenie (my biggest fear) and quit? 

 I started the race slowly, not knowing how I would feel: Would I get tired? Would something start to ache? How would I know if that ache was the beginning of an injury? Halfway through the race, most of my worries melted away. At mile 6.5, I wasn't tired, so I increased my pace, and passed other runners all the way to the finish line. I finished 94th out of 525 runners!!! My time was 1:55:53, a very respectable first Half Marathon! 

My training had prepared me better than I could have hoped. That's the point of training.  If you do it, exactly as prescribed, you will get reasonably good results.  Maybe not all the time, but enough of the time that it's a pretty good bet.  What does that mean for competitive riders?  When doubt shows up (and it will), remember the plan, and all the time you've put into training.  You've gotten your horse fit, he's sound, you know your test, and you know that you can complete it.  All that's left is having the confidence to believe that all your preparation will lead to success.  

Now I'm starting training for a full Marathon. I will follow the training plan, and on May 29th, barring injury or illness, I will complete my first Marathon!  Then horse show season will begin... Wish me luck!