VIDEO: Antoine J. Desroches reflects on his 2016 season

The end of a season is not only the time to eat whatever you want and become fat and lazy. It’s also the ideal moment to reflect on your season and identify how you can improve for the next year. Writing my “What I learned from” articles for TMC this season was a great opportunity to analyze my races and to learn from my mistakes. There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes, in fact you need to make mistakes in order to grow and improve.

To grown, you have to expose yourself to challenging situations and not be afraid to fail. A few times this season I tested my limits and paid the price. But how can you know how much to push yourself in a race if you never test your limits?

Besides racing strategies, I also learned that I can’t stomach certain sports drinks. I now stick to Red Bull, Coke and water and I don’t have any stomach issues anymore. It’s really important to find out what works for you and to stick to your nutrition and hydration plan.

I was still able to achieve some of the goals that I’ve set for myself at the beginning of the season. I earned prize money for at least one race and to break the four-hour barrier. I finally received my first cheque (and a tiny bottle of maple syrup!!) at Ironman 70.3 Timberman and broke the four hour barrier at 70.3 Galveston, Timberman and Miami. I was definitely happy to finally meet that goal but it’s obvious that to be competitive nowadays you have to be faster than 3:50, which is what I’ve set myself to do within the next two years.

So, here’s my 2016 season recap video. Enjoy!

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