Sunday Story…Mental Toughness

The other day someone asked me how do I keep going in a workout when the lungs are on fire, the heart is hammering, the muscles are screaming, and your brain is telling you to stop? What’s the process to keep going? What’s the process to dig down and go faster, find another gear, negotiate for more strength? What do you do that makes this possible?

It turns out, for me, that there are several steps. It isn’t just one thing (is it ever?) First and foremost, it is present moment/task oriented. In other words, all I am concentrating on is what I am doing at that very moment. I am not thinking about the next task or the one after that. If I am rowing I worry about the row…stroke rate, pacing, form, and technique. That is all there is; me, the machine, the monitor, the noise of the fan, the click of the chain.

The next task does not exist. Yet. My focus is singular and laser focused. I have this task and just this task. When I finish this task I will move to the next task. The moment I move to the next task, I am done with the one finished. I don’t replay it in my mind, rehash the strategy, nothing. It is over and done. I am focused on the job at hand.

The time for judgment and replays and all of that is when you finish everything. Until you are done, though, there is only that thing.

Next week…nattering nabobs!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412