by Maghalie Rochette

There is a question in my WHOOP journal that I answer everyday. The question is: "Do you feel generally positive about the future?". And here I'm not talking about the US elections or about any other political conflicts, but more about my personal life. As we just came back home from 12 days and 4 races on the road, my answer is yes; I do feel positive about the future.

We had a lot of fun on this trip that brought us from Cincinanti to Cape Cod and many states between, and it is not just because of race wins. In fact, I think we had so much fun partly because I managed to loosen my grip and to let go of winning a little bit. My only goal during this trip was to create momentum, and as much as we all know what it means to create the momentum, I had to ask myself "how?". How would I create momentum?

Well, there is another question in my WHOOP journal that I get to answer everyday, and that question is: Today, did you make progress on an important goal?

And so I used that as my guiding principle. I tried to forget about any outcome, and focus my energy on making progress. I knew that if I was able to make a little bit of progress everyday, then each step taken would help create momentum and bring me closer to my goal.

Momentum is such a powerful thing in sports, it is hard to create and easy to loose. But we've seen it in action many times. An underdog team has an average season but they make it in the playoffs. Then they win their first few playoff games, they build confidence, and they move to the next round, and the next round. Next thing you know they are in the finals and battling to win the Championship when no one had ever seen them there in the first place. Are they a better team than they were in the season? Not really, they are the same players with the same skills. But they built confidence, created momentum, and now they are riding the wave. I wanted to start creating that wave.

What was my goal? Bring my best when we go to Europe at the end of November. No mentions of winning. No mentions of comparing myself to my previous self or to others. How can I bring my current best self to the first World Cup? Plain and simple, and it had to start now with this racing trip to Cincinanti and Cape Cod.

And so we went. I tried to see that each day presented an opportunity to learn or improve on something. An easy day was an opportunity to rest and get ready for the next workout, or to work on other projects. A hard workout or race was an opportunity to challenge myself and stay disciplined in focusing on my process vs outcome. Every day was an opportunity to practice being honest (not worried) about how I felt and make decisions accordingly. And so most nights, I could fill my WHOOP journal and respond "yes" to "Did you make progress on an important goal?".

The race
Trying to let go of the outcome was put to the test on each race day, and I tried to embrace it. How to balance wanting to win with not being obsessed by the win? I decided I would focus on steps I could accomplish and control that could help me bring my best performance, and I trusted that my competitive instinct and experience would take care of playing my cards right to try to cross the finish line first.

On day 1, I had identified that the key section of the race was a sand pit. On the second lap, I decided to enter it in first place and put the pressure on. I saw that I had a gap, and although it was only 8minutes into the race, I decided to commit and try to go solo. I pushed hard and suffered quite a bit riding full gas by myself at the front for the whole race, but I enjoyed trying to find a good flow and managed to take the win.

On day 2, the course was different and Katie Clouse and I had another close battle. After many tries and fails attacks, I figured out which sections matched my strengths and decided I would attack there with two laps to go. I went full gas and felt strong and was happy to take the win.

But at the end of the day, what made me the most happy was not that I had won, but that I had successfully managed to let go of the outcome and focused on my own progressed. It allowed me to be free to race and play, without fearing the outcome, and it brought me so much fun!

"did you make progress on an important goal?". Yes.

And after 12 days on the road and 4 days of making progress every day, "do you feel generally positive about the future?" Yes, because I learned that I can have some control in it.

So special
There is a reason this newsletter comes on Tuesday, and not on Monday like normally. On Monday after the race, we were invited to visit the WHOOP headquarters in Boston. It always feels so special when we get to visit our partners in person. Getting to know the people and the culture behind the company made me feel even more proud to represent WHOOP...and it made me realize I could use their product even more deeply to get the most out of it. There is so much to learn!

Later in the evening, we kept driving and stopped to Velocio designer's house. He had received the first sample of a custom skinsuit I'll wear at the world cup and wanted to do a fit check. How special! I was impressed by his passion and commitment of receiving me in his own house at 6PM to make sure the fit of the skinsuit was absolutely perfect and to make sure the fabrics and materials chosen were optimal for my needs.

Anyway! We woke up at home this morning and I feel very grateful for the people around us, and for being able to pursue my goals everyday. I hope you all get to make one tiny step to make progress on your own goals today :)

Thank you for following!
- Maghalie

Cyclocross community
Really Rad CX was (probably) our last CX race in the US this year. From now on we will race National Championships in Canada, and then the remainder of the season will be in Europe.

Looking back on this beginning of the season in the US, I feel very grateful. The season started out rough for me and it got better, but above all I feel grateful for the CX community that we have. I love that everyone is so friendly, helpful, and welcoming. It's cool to feel like you are a part of something.

Despite competing against each other, these people make me feel at home and I feel grateful for it! That's what makes cyclocross so special.

What's Next
Canadian CX Nationals, November 16

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