Man how time flies! I have been traveling a lot these past few months and had a ton of video blogs to post. Unfortunately after arriving home from one of my latest trips my Flip (video camera) was missing from my luggage. The irony isn’t that it dissapeared, it’s that I usually have it on me and this was the first time I put it in my checked luggage.
Anyway, I am going to do this the old fasion way, typing.
As most of you know by now I am training to compete in the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship. I have had two races so far this season and will be doing a half Ironman in less than three weeks.
Tonight I want to talk about my training and one of the things that has become the most important aspect of my training.
I have literally been spending hours swimming, cycling, and running. All of these things have been helping me tremendously physically, but I have come to learn that I need to spend almost as much time working on my mind.
With the hours I have been spending working out I have had a lot of time to think. I’m not sure how many of you regularly spend up to six hours on your bicycle, but if you ever have you know that you have a lot of time to think.
This amount of thinking time can be a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that you actually have time to think and a curse in that you have a lot of time to do it.
On one of my latest rides I found myself beginning to focus on some negative thoughts. Thoughts like ” What have I gotten myself into?” and “Can I really do this?” as well as thinking about how tired my muscles were and how nobody would even know if I cut my workouts short.
When you allow thoughts like this to take hold it can make a long workout even longer, which began to happen almost immediately.
After I finished my workout I went home and had a hypnosis session. I have been focusing most of my sessions on weightloss. Fortunately, weightloss wasn’t my struggle.
I did a cd with Dr. Jack Singer. He is a reknown sports psychologist who works with elite athletes. Some of the points he made with me are so beneficial that I need to share them with you.
The first thing that struck me is how optimism can help you perform better. Expecting to win or in my case finishing Kona will increase your performance. These positive thoughts translates into success. Beleiving you will succeed because of your own work and strengths aid in having a positive outcome.
The second and perhaps most beneficial to me was learning that the sub-conscionience doesn’t hear negatives. If I say “Don’t get tired.” or “Don’t be nervous”, my mind only hears “Get Tired” and “Be Nervous”. This lesson was crystal clear when looking back at my workout. I was telling myself to not breathe so hard and not get tired. As I said almost instantly I began to have labored breathing and my legs began to feel heavy. I got through my workout but it wasn’t enjoyable.
I am not making this up. The next day, after my session, I went and did the same course. This time I said things like “my legs are strong” and “my lungs are lungs are efficient and my blood is circulating amazing”. I had turned the computer on my bike so I couldn’t see my time and other numbers. I just wanted to focus on my self talk. I did the same exact course with the same exact equioment 15 minutes faster. I felt better and ended my workout on a positive note.
Say what you will, but that is a pretty good time change. I didn’t get more fit overnight, but I did improve my mind overnight.
Our minds are powerful things, we can use them to improve our performance or hurt our performance. The choice is up to us!
