Race Anecdotes: The Power of Perspective

This time last year, I wasn’t stoked on racing. As a newly minted Cat 3, I was coming in mid-pack and feeling demoralized. When you go from podium’ing every race to unremarkable finishes, fragile egos shatter. I didn’t blame anyone but myself for my poor performance. What was I doing wrong?

One of my teammates convinced me to try PHP. It’s this unofficial ride that sees, on average, 40 racers at 6:00 AM. The first time I showed up I thought I had the wrong meeting spot because no one was there. And at precisely 6:00 AM, the group appeared and we took off.

I went to this hammerfest weekly. Sure, I was dropped faster than you could say, “wait for me!” but I kept going. I’d hang on a little bit longer and a little bit longer. Next thing I knew, I won the State Championship Road Race.

Angela, my personal guru, brought up last year: how I was second-guessing myself and I put in a ton of work and now I’m reaping the benefit.

Perspective is everything.

When we’re in the thick of it, not seeing the forest through the trees, our perspective is drastically different. It’s hard, if not damn near impossible, to see the…