When training for any competition, it’s important to
understand how the mind can influence physical performance. First, you want to
strive for the “ideal performance state,” which is the goal of every athlete.
In this state, you do not use negative self-talk, you have a strong feeling of
efficacy (confidence in exercise ability), and an adaptive focus on the
task-relevant cues (performing when it counts). The ideal performance state
consists of the following characteristics:
1. Absence of
fear – especially the fear of failure
2. Not thinking
about or analyzing performance – reliance on trained motor patterns
3. Narrowing of
focus on the activity you’re performing
4. A sense of
effortlessness – creating an involuntary experience
5. A sense of
personal control
6. Distortion of
time and space – time seems to slow down, which may be attributed to our eyes
seeing more frames per second, allowing us to respond or react with greater
precision
The
ultimate goal for the athlete is to be confident in their abilities and “just
let it happen.” Walter Payton, one of the greatest running backs of all time,
said: “I’m Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when
it comes to football. When I’m on the field, sometimes I don’t know what I am
doing out there. People ask me about this move or that move, but I don’t know
why I did something. I just did it. I am able to focus out the negative things
around me and just zero in on what I am doing out there. Off the field I become
myself again.”
The
notion of motor skill learning consists of 3 stages through which the athlete
progresses:
1.
The
cognitive stage - the effortful and conscious regulation of the movement.
2.
The associative stage - the athlete has to focus
on the task, but they’re less concerned about the details of the movement.
3.
The third stage is automaticity - the mind is
relaxed and the skill is performed automatically without thinking. With proper instruction and training, the
relaxed mind filters out all irrelevant cues and focuses only on what is
relevant to the task required of the athlete.
The
concept of the “ideal performance state” directly relates to how you perform in
the Beast on the Bay. Most people might
be hesitant about embarking on a 10-mile obstacle course on the sand. It is the desire to challenge yourself
physically and mentally that sets you apart from the rest of the world that is
satisfied with the status quo. Invest yourself in your training and in proper
instruction and you will reach your goal in completing the Beast on the Bay.
When you come upon an obstacle, you will “just let it happen” and rely on your
training and ability in successfully completing each obstacle and stretch of
running.
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