It’s
finally here! It’s the week of the big race and you have trained hard for
months, you have prepared physically and mentally and you are ready to go. Race
day arrives and your stomach has as many butterflies as it did before your
first prom. You have your routine planned, your goals established now all you
have to do is complete the event and enjoy the celebration that you have envisioned
for so long! To borrow from advertising
slogans from years gone by, “This Bud’s For You!”
Then
it happens. Something unexpected transpires and adversity becomes the main
attraction. Suddenly your dream race or event has been reduced to ruins. All that hard work and preparation can come
to a crashing halt in a matter of minutes leaving you in a pile of sweat, tears
and despair.
Unfortunately,
the above scenario is all too real for many people. Hours, weeks and months of hard work and
preparation suddenly dissipate when you face adversity or some unexpected
situation. While adversity is not all that uncommon, how people choose to react
or respond to that adversity is the key to survival and salvaging your race.
There
is a form of psychology called positive psychology that has individuals focus
on the positive aspects of a project, initiative or life in general. In his
book The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That
Fuel Success and Performance at Work, author Shawn Achor encourages people to
journal three things they are grateful for every day. This focus on positive
energy and attributes is said to make people happier, more relaxed and enjoy
for fulfilling lives.
While
I completely agree with Achor’s view of positive thinking, there is a time and
a place for negative thinking. Most
athletes practice some form of visualization where they see themselves
successfully completing their events. This is extremely important but leaves
the athlete vulnerable to issues that may arise that they were not prepared
for.
I am
in the middle of training for my first full Ironman race in October in
Louisville Kentucky. While I am
comfortable on the bike and on the run, having learned to swim as an adult I
still have some respectful apprehension for the swim, especially with 2,500
fellow competitors.
As
part of my preparation for the Ironman swim, I hired a Kim Webster, a Sports
Psychologist and fellow triathlete to help me overcome some of the mental
hurdles of triathlon swimming. As Kim and
I talked, I told her I was a fan of positive visualization and during every
swim practice I pictured myself successfully and easily finish the Ironman swim
without incident.
The
advice Kim gave me was unexpected and may be one of the best things I could
have learned. She asked me what my fears
were in an Ironman swim and what things that could go wrong that would cause me
to panic and negatively impact my swim. I was able to name off about five items
and she asked to visualize each of these items during my swim practices to live
the emotion and devise a plan on how I would RESPOND to them.
What
Kim gave me was the ability to see the Ironman swim from all perspectives and
to try and feel those experiences during practice so I could devise a strategy
to overcome each one in case they occurred. The lesson – not only look at
positive aspects of your training, look at what can possibly go wrong, live the
emotions and have a plan for how you will respond to each. It may make the
difference between the sweet taste of victory and a DNF.
HERE’S TO BEING FIT FOR LIFE! Chris is a Certified Personal Trainer, USA
Triathlon Level 1 Coach, Group Exercise Instructor, exercise and endurance
enthusiast. He competes yearly in
numerous running races, marathons, ultra-marathons, triathlons and other
endurance events. He is a member of the
2015 QT2 Systems Advanced Team.