LEARN TO TRIUMPH OVER FAILURE

FAILURE IS A PART OF SPORT THAT WE’LL ALL EXPERIENCE AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER. BUT IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY TO GO THROUGH. SO HOW CAN WE IMPROVE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FAILURE AND TURN IT INTO SOMETHING VALUABLE?

- ROB SLADE

Every single person on this planet will experience failure in their lifetime. There’s just no getting around it. When it comes to sport, racing and triathlon, we perhaps notice it more. But no one has come into triathlon and won every single event they’ve ever raced.

Four-time Ironman world champion Chrissie Wellington, while undefeated in all her iron-distance races, has a few nonpodium places in her race results list. Even two-time Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee has suffered his fair share of setbacks in his illustrious career, namely at the hand of injury.

Of course, failure can mean different things to different people. While you’re unlikely to be judging yourself based on your performance on the pro circuit, you may be chasing a podium in your agegroup or trying to beat a personal best in your A-race. So, when things don’t go exactly to plan, how can we deal with it?

AVOID NEGATIVE SPIRALS

When we don’t feel that things have gone our way in an event, we can experience a whole host of emotions, such as sadness or anger, but this is entirely normal, says sports psychologist Hannah Brooks. “Allowing yourself to feel whatever it is you’re feeling, regardless of whether it’s a success or failure, is almost the first step [in dealing with it]. Don’t try to immediately block those emotions out. It’s really normal and healthy to have that emotional experience.”