Mental Preparation

This past Saturday I was enjoying the afterglow of a successfully completed 400M repeat workout when Coach Barker came over and congratulated me on the effort.  I received the praise and realized that I have a lot of confidence doing short and quick workouts such as 400’s, but I have a much harder time completing longer intervals with the same focus and confidence. He asked if I did any sort of mental preparation, and I acknowledged that I do very little. We decided to meet to establish a mental preparation routine.

            When we met, Dennis reminded me that people say the mental toughness is something that can be trained and everyone can improve. Some people are better at mental toughness, but everyone can grow. We talked for over an hour, and I will cherish every second of it. In summary of our conversation, the two “takeaways” I had are the benefit of picturing the runner I aspire to be and believing I will become it, and learning to run each step with a focus on the immediate task at hand rather than fearing what lies ahead.

            Dennis asked me what kind of runner I aspire to be? He said to go home and consider what kind of runner I want to become and then to picture that on a daily basis. I picture myself running fast on a track with the confidence to push the pace from the moment the gun goes off. I see myself competing at a National and International level. I picture myself as a champion, finishing a race with passion and aggression. It amazes me how picturing myself as a runner that is aggressive and competitive has a profound impact on my mind and actions. Simply viewing myself as a champion makes me want to take care of all of the minor details in my training. None of my behavior is significantly different, but there are minor modifications; I want to continue to eat food that nourishes me, I want to make sure I get adequate sleep, I want to do my rehab and strength routine, etc. It amazes me how believing you can be a champion changes how you view yourself, and thus how you act. I am excited to proceed with my training with a new attitude and daily picture of the runner I am becoming.

             Dennis and I also discussed the negative effects of fear in a race. He pointed out that fear of the “possibilities” certainly cannot help us to reach our potential. When I am racing and someone makes a move, rather than moving with them and racing them, I generally fear I won’t be able to maintain that pace in a few laps and let them go on to have the race of their life without me. When I reflect on my best races, I recall a moment of decision where I wasn’t sure that I would be able to make it to the end of the race at such a pace, but I committed to moving with the group, and ran beyond expectation. I know that this decision to take a risk happens many times throughout a race; there is a constant mental battle between looking too far ahead and committing to the moment. I need to practice and picture myself taking risks and focusing on racing and doing what I need to do in the moment.

Racing in the moment makes me think if the verses in Matthew 6:33-34. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” All I can do is to compete to the best of my ability, and then trust that God has a good and perfect plan. Not everything will happen the way that I want, but I do not need to worry about tomorrow, how I will feel three laps from now, or if I will make it through the next five intervals in the workout. Rather, I can focus on the task at hand and do it well, and trust that taking care of each step will result in a final outcome. As Dennis said, “Take care of all of the little things, and the result will come.”

            I am excited to see the effects of viewing myself as a champion: strong, fast, and courageous. I do not think mental training is exclusive to athletes. We all benefit from having a positive view of ourselves and knowing where we want to go. I feel so blessed that I can use running as a metaphor for the ultimate goal in my life. With running I have an image of the athlete I want to become; similarly, for the ultimate goal in my life, I have the person of Jesus Christ that I want to emulate. As I continue to grow in my relationship with him, I know I will become more and more like him. After I have a vision of who I want to be, I will focus on the small details in my current situation, and trust that they will take care of the end result. This idea is so freeing to me.  The fear of the “what-ifs” don’t matter, but the effort in each moment does. There is nothing more satisfying to say I did the best I can do, and not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself!