I haven't written here for awhile. Several reasons contribute to this lack of words on my part. I had a person that I do not know come up to me during a workout at the local Y and tell me "your blog is a downer...you should consider some help." At first I thought she was kidding..then I realized she was serious...and...well...here I am.
We all know that negative thinking can eat you up inside. We also know that there are a lot of people who will bring you down because they are down themselves. I believe its called the "crab pot theory". If one crab is about to make it out of the pot,the rest of the crabs will pull him right back down. Two things are very clear to me: I do not wish to be the crab that is pulled back AND I don't want to do the pulling.
I have had a series of bad workouts. I have had technical difficulties, illness, no injuries (thank you God), GI issues (this weekend) and the like. I could sit here and write about all that but does it really help anymore to go over the WOES of triathlon training. Ironman is tough. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
So this "crab" is tired of being CRABBY. There is a breakthrough on the horizon. There are moments that I believe that the crabs of this world want to pull you back but I refused to be "boiled" and served up with drawn butter. My desire is to develop that focus, that drive, that inner spirit that will get me to everything I can to do in my life. How do you find that?? How do you develop it?? This applies to more than just Ironman...this applies to all the goals I have in my life.
Every time I get on the bike, I DO see that my focus is sharpening. I go to my happy place. I envision that my legs are powering the projector that shows me the amazing moments of my life. The faster I pedal, the more I get to see. Pedal slower, and I don't get to see the happy times in focus. Visualization is very powerful for me. The less I think that I am traveling 112 miles on a bike seat or running 26 miles on my feet, the better I perform.
Am I the only one that uses this to get through a long race? If I open the door to negative thinking (like: my foot hurts, my stomach is upset, etc), I have to shut down those thoughts and go to something else in my mind. Once those negative thoughts take over, my performance dies. I have even gone so far to envision a HUGE dry eraser that erases the bad thoughts from my brain. Welcome to the strange world of Melissa's head.
As we get closer to Ironman, I want to develop more and more ways to deal with adversity during the race. I want to perfect the skill of staying calm under pressure and addressing issues as they arise. If you have any suggestions, Im all ears.
Now...for some reason...I have a terrible craving for seafood.... :) :) :)
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11 comments:
One way to deal with adversity during the race is to think about what a great story it's going to make. You know how when someone had every single thing go wrong for them one day and it makes for a hilarious story later? Well, that's what I think about. Someone peed on you during the bike? too funny! You're so nauseous you consider vomiting on the person passing you on your life? hehe! You twist your ankle and have a big bloody gash on your knee? This is going to make a great story - you just need to get back up and keep going and think about how you're going to write it for the blog and tell people about it later over beer and pizza, while they admire you for being so hard core. Attitude is everything.
By the way, you have strangers reading your blog! Too cool!
negative, positive, whatever.... it is all just fuel for the fire. use it all to your advantage
I don't think your blog is negative. It's real. It shows the ups and the downs of training. Sometimes there are more downs, sometimes more up. Besides really what is this blog for to entertain some stranger ( not that we are entertained anyway. :) ) or to help you on your road to success?
Two points:
1) I don't find your blog a downer. I find it inspirational understanding that each little bit of reality sometimes isn't perfect but the pursuit of our goals is. If someone finds it negative they always have the choice to not read it.
2) I know that there will be challenges any worthwhile goal. There will be good times and bad times and sometimes the good will seem bad and the bad will seem good. Every day seems to have self doubt. That's normal. But you also have successes you need to celebrate too.
Dave Scott once said to a collection of TNTers, "live in the now" as a mantra for racing. You can interpret that a whole different collection of ways but I choose to interpret it as meaning you can't change history but what you do now can shape the future. The future can be the rest of the race or I find sometimes beyond that works to help motivate me through the tough times.
Keep up the good work, keep blogging, and, most of all, realize what you've accomplished is a big deal already and the rest will be part of the celebration.
Be the Ball
You know... you have all day, the entry fee is paid and what else are you going to do on Nov. 7 anyway?
Don't make any dinner plans, I'm not.
Go out and EMBRACE and ENJOY the day. That's what I am going to do and what happens.. happens. Cool?
OH, ps: It's all about the bike...
If you were writing a bunch of fake fluff, it wouldn't be true and it wouldn't be helping anyone. If they don't like your blog, it's very simple, stop reading.
You, my friend, are going to rock IMFL.
I like the above..be the ball ;)
Wanna know who wrote : Be the Ball...my husband!! **giggle** He is a man of few words..but he does make them count :)
A downer? Nope. Realistic. Absolutely! Reading your blog makes us all realize that we are not alone in our thinking, that we have the same thoughts others have AND they get through them so we can too.
That person at the gym is the crab. They are just jealous that YOU are doing things THEY are afraid of. So there (if I knew how to make a face with it's tongue sticking out I would, but I'm horrible at that!)
Your blog is not a downer. It's about a journey you're on that started years ago and with that journey comes ups and downs. This is your place to express your thoughts and feelings on the good days AND the bad days. We all keep coming back to see how you're feeling and what you are thinking. Keep saying what is in your heart and don't worry about what someone else thinks of your blog. They can choose not to read it.
I can't wait until IMFL to cheer you on from beginning to end! Your support crew is ready to ROCK IMFL with you! Hugs my friend!
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