Redemption Racing

After a bad race there seem to be several stages of (mental / emotional) recovery...

Stage 1: Relief - with the race just complete, it feels great to finally cross the finish line
Stage 2: Denial - with the endorphins still flowing, you tell yourself that it was the best race you could have had on the day, remembering the hard parts that you courageously pushed through
Stage 3: Awareness - you review your split times, and those of your competitors
Stage 4: Remorse - you start to remember where you could have picked up some time and maybe place that much higher in the rankings
Stage 5: Confession (aka Excuses) - you tell those that care (and some that don't) what happened during the race - it feels good to get it off your chest
Stage 6: Redemption Race Registration - sometimes, without thinking it through, you sign up for a redemption race, knowing that you can do better
Stage 7: Adjust - this is the most important step - this is where you fix all of the things you could have done better AND you hang onto those things you did well - did you give yourself enough time in Stage 6?
Stage 8: Regret or Confidence - as the redemption race gets close, you don't feel you are quite ready OR you nailed step 7 and you are good to go and have a great race