Those of us who have prepared and prepared for a long time for a big goal know how incredible it feels to finally achieve it. Especially if said goal did not come easy. If it took long hours and sacrifices of time and energy the satisfaction is intensified. However, we all know what comes next. The blues. The "now what" feeling. The "Holy crap I have a lot of time on my hands! Awesome!" followed by "Holy crap. I have a lot of time on my hands...". Other than the "blues" or "post-race depression" I had never heard this phenomenon called anything else. While listening to the Endurance Hour podcast (endurancehour.com) the hosts named it something that made me laugh out loud. They called it "Post Ironman Depression Syndrome (PIDS)".
This term is ridiculous and appropriate all at once. Ridiculous because it is a play on real disorders such as "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD) which is a true trial in the lives of many people who have gone through harrowing experiences in their lives. By comparison the blues we feel after reaching a big goal can be classified as "first-world problems". These post-race blues are problems we are fortunate to experience.
The term PIDS was so appropriate to me because this whole month I have been dealing with sad feelings as I mourn the fact that my Ironman experience for this year is over. After Ironman Vineman I went through feelings of euphoria that are some of the reasons I love endurance sports. But a few days after the race I started having the following symptoms:
Hold on to anything you can find to make the high last -
1. Obsessively look at results, yours and others (including random strangers).
2. Look up race analysis to decide "Am I happy with my result? Did I really suck that bad? I did better than most of the field? Hey, at least I finished!" (Check out coachcox.co.uk for an example of what I'm talking about.)
3. Obsessively browse Faceboook and Instagram for race reports and images from the race. Spend disgusting amounts of time participating in threads about the most trivial things about the race. For example, I spent waaayyy to much time on the thread about whether a particular hill on the course had too much camber, whaaat? Jeez... The worst is when you get into fights on Slowtwitch about your race. Can you say time suck?
4. You wear the medal...to work. I have never done this but I know people that do. My ritual is that the first day I am back to work after a race I hang my medal on the side of the monitor so I can bask in its glory for one day. I then take it home and that's that.
5. You keep the race wristband on for way too long. At some races, definitely at Ironman and IM 70.3 races they give you a wristband at registration that brands you as a participant of the race. Some people keep these wristbands on for weeks and months after the race. Never mind that they look like hospital wristbands, they are pretty uncomfortable. I must admit I kept mine for about two days after the race but then it started driving me crazy. I may have shed a tear when I cut the band off.
Spend Money!!! -
Need I say more. The lines at an Ironman Expo are ridiculous! People, the stuff is at least 20% cheaper literally days after the event but even then holy crap the stuff is expensive. Jacket - $119 online (gulp!), Ironman Finish Line Trophy - $169 (I kid you not), M-dot Tatoo (who knows how much it costs, it can't be cheap and really? I don't think so). The only way I'm buying race stuff is if it's still around when it goes on sale. The Finisher's Medal is all I really care about.
Sign up for another race! -
You know who you are. Those of us who say "well I have all this fitness I might as well put it to good use!" Or "I bet I can get those 10 minutes back that will put me under 13 hours." Or just simply, "I gotta do that again!!!" "Sure, what's another $3K-$5K in registration and travel expenses?" "Can you imagine if I did two Ironmans in one year?!!!" It's been almost a month since I did IMVM and I can truly say I am not fully recovered. I have decided I am on the "One IM every two years" plan. There is a wide world of endurance sports and I plan to enjoy as much variety as I can muster. 100-mile run here I come!!!
Screw this I'm done... -
And possibly the worst reaction anyone could have, "I quit". I bought my tri bike from a guy who was so distraught from being pulled off the course at Ironman Lake Tahoe that he decided to completely quit the sport. He sold me his Cervelo for a fraction of the value and threw in the bike shoes and hydration system just because he just didn't even want to look at the stuff. I felt really bad for this dude because I don't think he was really looking at the reality of his day at Lake Tahoe. That was a horrendously hard race in very tough conditions. Many people DNF'ed that day. I actually love the attitude of some of the DNF's at Ironman Vineman. I am part of the Ironman Vineman Facebook group and have been inspired by some of the reports of athletes that got DNF's. They will be back and I fully believe they will finish. We all have failures but quitting is not the answer. I flunked the CPA exam 5 times before I passed it. But guess what, I'm a CPA. My buddy failed 2 times at the Bear 100 mile race before finishing it on his third try (I was his pacer all three times). That finish was sweet and awesome. Don't quit! Also, enjoy short course, 70.3's, running, biking, hiking. IM is just one thing. That's all it is.
My Advice -
I have none. Lest you think me a hypocrite I am a PIDS victim like the rest of you brothers and sisters in the Fraternity of Pain. The way I cope is by writing ridiculously long race reports and blog posts. So, while I have given my opinion I know I am as sick and twisted about this stuff like the rest of you. I like the approach of Coach Brett from Zen and The Art of Triathlon (zentriathlon.com) "Simplicity leads to happiness.". Thanks Coach Brett. At it's core it's awesome and a blessing that I can even cover the distance. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
P.S. But no, you people who get M-dot tattoos are freaks. Just saying... :-)
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