Day seventy-one

Drama can take some getting used to. It can also be addicting. Perhaps we should coin a new phrase, call it dramatic balance.

A little is certainly good. Keeps the juices flowing. Keeps you on your toes and moving closer to the edge, where all the excitement lives. Too much can overwhelm and induce a paralysis of movement.

We talked a little about it last night. That incredible emotion known in sports circles  as performance anxiety. When your nerves are buzzing with the largesse of the moment, endorphins mixing with adrenalin to form an event cocktail at maximum heart rate. I have some close up footage of Ironman athletes on the beach minutes before the canon blast and their eyes tell more in one frame than a thousand words ever could. I love that moment. Always have. If ever there was a nano-second of time to feel life at its most profound, that is it.

It is as difficult to control as it is to practice. How do you? Go ahead and call 2,000 of your friends, gather them lakeside and all start swimming at once. Then keep it up over 140.6 miles. It would raise you heart rate some.

But I think it is possible to rehearse. In our CompuTrainer Multi-Rider Center our bread and butter drill is the 2x20. We know that 85% of FTP is a robust and demanding level of intensity. The last ten minutes of the second set often define us. We either have the mental toughness to endure or don't. We either possess the ability to focus and maintain efficient execution, of we don't. We either accept the challenge or let it pass.

This skill can be learned the same way that our muscles adapt to increases in load. We get stronger. We get tougher. We add confidence to the mix. And before you know it….

What was once drama is now dogma.

We simply do what needs to be done. With great presence and focus. With confidence stopping just short of arrogance.

You have seen this. It is inspiring. It motivates. Those that possess have practiced it  hundreds of times.

You can too. Find your dramatic balance.