Competition
Monday, September 14, 2009 at 8:58PM Having people you know at a race, who are racing the race, and are at a very similar level as you, changes triathlon. This weekend my idea about what triathlon is and can be has been shattered and put back together in a way i never thought possible. This weekend inspired the following ramblings about motivation. It may seam a little down but i can not be more giddy about this last weekend. The following post is more of a decompression of a thought that formed sunday night after the race. Watch the entire clip un interupted and i feel when you read the post after it will make even better sense.
Motivation
I am a stranger person, as many of you know if you have watched more then 30 seconds of my show. I don’t try to be strange but at the same time i don’t try to be normal. I take what i know i react to however strange or stupid and i use it to motivate myself to do things.
In past episodes i have talked about how i yell and get down on myself in order to get myself to move, this works on race day or during a hard training ride, but how do you motivate yourself during the in between times. The time when you are driving to a training ride, to the coarse, when you are thinking strategy when you are reading your competitors race reports.
You hear a lot of people that win a lot they always think they are the best and “know” they are the best, this is they say what makes them winners. You have to think your number 1 in order to be number 1. I have never had this mentality, mind you i have never won anything big and maybe that is why but i don’t think so.
I like to go into races thinking i am the underdog, i am not the favorite. Im so far down on the rung that the person i am competing with does not even factor me into their race. i walk into race day thinking to myself
“i can do this i can take them their not that fast i can suffer more, i can suffer more”
One of my favorite songs to listen to that will amp me up in this way is a song, by a band named Explosion in the sky the song being First Breath after a Coma. I am not the only person that feels this way based on where most of you might know this song IE the above clip.
The question is, are you able to keep using the same motivational technique when you fail to meet your goals. when the “underdog” does fail to beat the AR does he brush himself off and raise again?
Reader Comments (2)
You said: "The question is, are you able to keep using the same motivational technique when you fail to meet your goals. when the “underdog” does fail to beat the AR does he brush himself off and raise again?"
I say: HECK YES. You brush yourself off, pour alcohol on your cuts and bruises, maybe a band-aid and RISE AGAIN!! This is what works for your craziness. You're a great athlete, a great competitor, and you'll continue to get even better. (Shhhhhhh - no one will expect it. Keep it on the DL. Take 'em by surprise!)
great commercial. that totally caught me off-guard when they played it during the tour.
as for the rest, when ya define what the purpose of it all is upfront... the rest falls into line. Just keep the purpose close.