Now that the dust has settled I've put together some reflections and lessons from the 2013 Age Group Worlds in London:
I am very lucky. Regardless of the results, I am very, very fortunate to have been able to compete at this event. It was an amazing course, and it's always inspiring to compete on the world stage. Plus having my family and fantastic club-mates out there cheering was fantastic.
Don't loose the race before you even start. Coming into the race under-trained I let pessimism rule my mental state. Instead of focusing on the positive - like my great sessions with Team Hammer Time or how cool the event was - I let negative self-talk and worst case scenario thinking fill my head. By the time I walked out onto the pontoon in the middle of the Serpentine I was in a horrible head space. It goes without saying that a great race is next to impossible when you've already defeated yourself 1000x before you begin.
You have to commit to the training. In the early season I had time to train, but let it slide since it was cold, wet, dark and "I have a ton of time to ramp up". Then wedding planning sucked up my spring/early summer, and work took over my late summer/fall. Even when I had the opportunity to put tri-training first I never committed fully to the season, or the race, and my results reflected accordingly.
It's supposed to be fun. I'm not a professional. Hell I'm hardly even a competitive age-grouper. I do this for fun. I didn't remind myself about that enough in London. In the future, I want to embrace why I love this sport, and have FUN, regardless of the result.
So now it's time to rest, regroup, and make a plan for 2014. Onwards, upwards. Let's make 2014 a blast.