Funk #50

Spent most of yesterday in a funk. I was, as they say, cut down to size by another's attitude, meaning that in our phone-con there was no respect, no understanding, no innovation, no compassion and very little gratitude. Despite knowing better, I took it personally. And that led to a rather unmotivated day. Even cancelled my planned workout. And all this, as the sun was shinning bright and blue over the Pacific Northwest, a rare treat for mid Feb. Maybe my expectations were, and are, too high. Maybe I demand too high a standard from those that I choose as partners. Maybe my perception of reality is not the common one of majority consensus. In fact, I am pretty sure it's not. So why then, the fallout from one conversation?

I'll tell ya why.

Because I am allergic to negativity.

FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS PURE, PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME I CANNOT DO SOMETHING. DO NOT TELL ME THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE, IS TOO COSTLY, TOO DIFFICULT, TOO COMPLICATED, TOO WEIRD OR TOO POLITICALLY INCORRECT.

And worse, (please) do not go into the standard litany of reasons why (you think) I can't do it. Do not create the argument, again, that we are limited in the creative process in any way. Please immediately discontinue the search for reasons that validate your limitations, weakness' and myopic views. Please.

I am here to help. I cannot help you unless you first choose to improve. Once you have made that decision, WE CAN DO ANYTHING.

Once the ill effects of the funk began to subside late in the day, I started to seek a moral, or lesson from the exercise. I went in search of others' stories of motivation. Some of the highlights are linked below. It quickly became clear that there are more than a few connected elements at work here, mysteriously winding between the passions and pains of our plight. Consider (as I did):

Motivation in training. What keeps you going and focused? Motivation in racing. What keeps you moving and relaxed? Motivation in life. What keeps you constantly heading in the right direction?

And please don't tell me you can't do it. Ever.

From the wonderful site of Joe Reger. about my old buddy Lucho (nee: Time Luchinske)

Joe- The low expectations you place on your runs are a mental game that you play with yourself to counter your fear. By having low expectations there is less risk of failure, so there's nothing to be afraid of and your brain doesn't release stress hormones. When your expectations are high then there is more risk of failure (and success) and you get stressed which releases hormones. This is the "fear of success" theory in sports psychology. Going in to workouts with zero expectations counters both of these thought processes. Zero expectations allow you more readily to listen to your body and get the most out of the session. You should also consider how you define success and failure of a workout. If you plan to run at 8:00 pace and are too tired to achieve this- the workout may still be very successful in terms of moving towards your goal. Just because the number on the watch isn't up to your expectations, the effort may be. Your muscles don't care what the number on the watch is- they only care about how hard they work. Fatigue can make 8:30 pace just as effective in building fitness as 8:00 pace can when you're more rested. The same thing with HR. What happens with athletes is that they condition and teach themselves how to perceive their objective data (watts, HR, pace), the brains perception and preconditioned response to the number THEN determines how they feel. If you are intimidated by 7:30 pace, when you see it on your watch it will trigger fear, THEN you will feel tired, even if you felt great up to that point. Hormone release triggered by brain response to seeing a stimulus that you have taught yourself to fear... Ie: A small child doesn't fear a tiger until he learns to. When he first sees the tiger he is calm and laughing and wants to pet the tiger... once he learns what it actually is, seeing the tiger will trigger adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol release causing elevated HR and the fight or flight mechanism (fear). Bad analogy- but it gets the point across. When you look at your watch or power meter and your expectations are not met- the number may as well be a tiger.. Figure out how to shift this thinking away from expectation and more towards allowing your body to do what it can. Sorry to pop in and give unsolicited advice... this subject is currently the only thing that I myself am focused on. I see this response in nearly every athlete out there! The athletes that you don't see this response in are the ones who won Kona yesterday. They're the ones who break world records. The brain is 100% in control of how your body functions on race day... every small movement and decision starts in the brain. Your brain tells you how your legs feel, not the other way around.

And this perfect response to my imbalance from Zen Habits.


PIX: The Road is long. It CAN end at the awards banquet in Kona, Hawaii.