Mondays with Mel: Fire and wire your brain.
Post ride feels and the MNR (Monday Night Ride).
How many times have you, as an athlete/ business person/ entrepreneur/family member, go through your training and racing preparation by conditioning your mindset? Most of you know that I have dug into the mental side of racing and training.
Have you gone through your training with constant memories of your past results? Have you languished with this thought process “ Oh, man I hate that course, I always suck at it!”?. You are not alone. Most amateur athletes focus on three things that keep them from ultimately reaching their goal.
Waking up each morning and dwelling on the past. Especially a poor performance in work/life/or play.
We don’t have the “tools” to overcome what it is that we want to ultimately achieve at our events.
The negative thought process so infiltrates our mindset.
I have watched this video when I need to rewire. It has helped me recalibrate many times when I get stuck in life, work, and especially training. Your number 1 goal should be to wake up with good intentions. Wire the brain from the jump to think positively and with good intentions. “Rehearse your action”. Install the hardware to make your brain think positively each day. We learn that most of us rarely stay in the moment and being present, we are not rewiring. We are languishing.
Think of it like this. I’m a big fan of group rides. Love them. However, if you train the same way, with the same people and the same course, every week you will not be disconnecting from a stagnant environment. Your training consists of the same “process”. You keep going back to your emotional past by doing the same training. The definition of insanity…blah blah blah ;).
My ride with Melinda (Monday night World Championships) last night was a bit nutty. A lot of fun. With the South Carolina bumpy as hell roads, to attack zones, and more. It takes me out of any funk. Normally I wouldn’t show up for a ride when it’s 100 degrees at 630pm on a Monday. I don’t know why. However, doing the Monday Night Ride has changed up my coaching and training. It’s had me stray from the standard “Hey don’t go hard on Monday”. That’s ludicrous. It fits me and my schedule perfectly. Harder Monday rides set my intention for the week. Flips my “training” around. On Tuesday mornings I’m a bit sore. A bit tired. But in all the good ways that we endurance athletes love. Old dog learning new tricks?
Watch the video. Set your intentions positively. Hey, if this old dog can do it, so can you!
Tailwinds,
Chad
PS: I’m someone who enjoys the mental side of coaching. However, I’m not a doctor. If you feel like you need some help, get a therapist/sports therapist. I did.