K.C. Wilder: In Part I of this interview, you talked about getting past fear of failure in your racing. Can you tell me more about how you get past fear of failure in the middle of a race?
Melissa Sanborn: It helps to get past fear of failure. The doing/doubting in the middle of the race is a sure way to lose. I think that you really have to, as Catherine Marsal says, "take responsibility for your actions."
I am trying to have this tunnel-vision. I am finding that towards the end of racing, sometimes it is not automated. I am trying to get to the point that I am not thinking at the end of the race, but just do.
K.C.: What are doing to help yourself to get to being automatic?
M.S.: Mental training. I dream about it. I day-dream about it while I am riding. I imagine the finish, and practice seeing it. I ask anyone that I can about the course. How do you win a sprint is something that I have asked Petra Rossner. I am not afraid to ask her. Everyone says, just go, don't think about it. I think that you have to feel, rather than think. Maybe I just discovered something there. You have feel the time, as if it is a tiny little lull, or surge. But, there must be some point where everything is right. And, you instinctively know that it is right. Sometimes I will doubt myself, and I am trying to get away from that. You don't want to be silly about it, and make the wrong move.
I should go into Sunday's race knowing that I have the best fitness that I have every had heading into Philly. I haven't been sick this year like past years. My only nervous thought is that I have been going well for three months already that I wonder if I can still go well? And, you can. You can go well all year long. Look at some of the winning racers, they can do it. So if they can do it. I can too. And, I know that there is this whole up and down cycle. Every coach will tell you that you can only peak for a short period. I do believe that you should take your rest days seriously. Race hard, rest hard.
K.C.: Are rest days so important to you?
M.S.: The body can heal. The mind can heal. It is down time. It is like a leg massage on the bike. It is important for the body to regenerate especially after you have been racing. Especially after consecutive hard days, or leading up to a big race. I am always telling my athletes that resting can be more important than the training itself. One or two days easy.
I think back to my successes in big races, and they have all been achieved by just doing. Not looking at who is next to me. Just this tunnel vision. That it is just me. Like I am the only one in this race. Who cares about anyone else. Who cares if they don't like me. I am not there for them. They may even start liking me more after I win bike races. I have tasted victory. I have tasted it before, and I feel that I will taste it again. I am trying to be more consistent. I have ridden a strong season so far. It was disappointing at SouthEast Crit Series. Right now, I am the 5th or 6th best finisher. I want to be on the podium, and not finish 4th or 5th or 6th. Kendra [Wenzel] has always told be that I am quick. She thinks that I am the fastest from A to B. I may not be the most powerful, or most savvy. But, the fastest.
K.C.: What do you believe that means if you can tap into that?
M.S.: If I can somehow tap into that, then I should be winning bike races. When I jump, I tend to open a pretty big lap, pretty quick. If I can take all of the tactics, and energy that I have used in the middle of a race, and apply it to the end of the race, when it is all strung out, then theoretically I should be winning. The team dynamic is really important. If you are a good sprinter, you need a good lead-out. That seems to be true, most of the time. There are some riders who can cherry pick off of other riders. Right now, Tibco has there lead-out down. Colavita are pretty strong. We are a young team, and we haven't mastered our lead-out. It comes down to the last laps of the race, and most of my teammates are learning. They are representing the team by chasing down attacks, but they only have so many matches to burn, and usually they don't have much for the finish. I think a lead-out to help me. The moral support of my teammates is awesome. When it was time for the sprint for Somerville it was all me. Getting 4th in Somerville was a minor success. I wish that could've been on the podium. It may be key to have my teammate do my thinking, and I won't have to think as much. Just do.
Also, going back to practicing the finish, Kendra had suggested practicing on breathing, and relaxation. Relax your shoulders. And, that calms me down. Catherine has suggested that I have some sort of cue or vision that would help me focus. Visualizing myself on podium, perhaps? It is exhausting to remember all of these things. Some people, these things come very naturally. Some women get a lot of respect in the peloton too. There are some women that I have a hard time fighting for a wheel.
I think that I am getting a little more respect.
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