How Do You Know?

Posted by Coach Mark

Do you know when you start those training sessions where you feel – shall we say – not so good?  You know that feeling when you start swimming and the water feels like molasses? Or how about starting the bike and feeling EVERY single pedal stoke – as if your brakes are rubbing!  And certainly everyone has felt those painful, heavy cinderblocks we call legs pounding the pavement with each step – before we’ve even gone 1/8 of a mile?  So how can we mentally continue with a positive attitude?

When you first start training in your “triathlon life”, you see rapid change in your ability.  You also go through immense mental highs and lows as your body and mind try to grasp this new world of daily movement you’ve introduced.  Everything seems so extreme! And since you have no experience, your confidence hangs on every training session.  If it’s not so good a session, you wonder if you’re getting slower and have any chance of achieving your goals.  Conversely, on good training days, you’re ready to see yourself beating your buddies, standing on the podium, and qualifying for world championships! Ah, yes, the life of a Newbe! 

So back to our initial question on how can we mentally continue with a positive attitude when we start those sessions that feel terrible?  It’s experience.  With fitness, comes knowledge.  We know that the “low” often moves to a “high” within the same session.  The extreme emotions that can so easily affect our confidence are replaced with calm assurance that, “No worries, we got it.”  More often than not, we know at the beginning of a session that “doesn’t start so good” doesn’t mean that we’ll feel that way for long.  It’s this experience gained often over many years that keeps us from doubting ourselves and ultimately creates a foundation of belief that we can do whatever we set our minds to.

So next time, when you start a session not feeling so good, relax and give it time – you’ll feel better...