Get in the race. Get mobilized. Be in the moment in your own life.

Hey Gang,

How is your summer so far?  I’ve been kicked out of the game, sidelined with  a series of injuries that have prevented me from being able to compete, to get into any racing at all and it’s been driving me nuts!  I’m still at the tail end of my last big owie, but finally able to get my training going again and have set some race dates on the calendar.

How about you?  Have you been able to get out there yet?  Man there are some great races going on. When is the last time you got to the starting line?  How ever long it’s been, if it was last weekend or never.  I’m here to tell you, it is time!  Jump online, go to active.come or gamultisports.com  and type in whatever it is that interests you , pick a race, sign up and let’s go, ok? 

It matters that you get to the starting line.  It matters that you get to the finish line. 

I have 3 simple rules for racing. 

1.       You have to show up.  By just showing up, you are living a life rather than sitting there, being a remote control jockey and watching others live one.

2.       You can’t quit!  Once you get to the start line, you must finish.  I don’t care how long it takes you.  I just don’t care.  Finish it.  Don’t get into your head with any negative self talk, comparing your performance to last time, or the person next to you, or your sibling or whatever.  Just be in the race.  Be where you are.  Be right there and keep throwin the cranks over, keep putting one foot in front of the other, one more stroke or stride and reel that finish line in.  It feels awesome to cross the finish line.  Oh, and maybe that day will be the day you set your new personal record – something definitely worth experiencing!
3.       Lastly, have fun.  Enjoy it.  Enjoy the whole darn experience.  From getting up early, coordinating logistics to get there, waiting in line at the bathroom with all the other competitors before the race starts. I love it all.  The race packet pick up, the vendors and all the cool stuff, the sights, sounds and smells of it all.  Most folks buzz through life either living in the past or the future, race day puts you right smack in the middle of the moment.   Be in the moment.  Breathe it in.  Stand there and just be.

Now here’s what happens for me when I pick a race.   Well, I’m a bit wacked in that picking one race for me usually leads to picking a whole series of races because it just fires me up!  Anyway, picking a race sets all my gears in motion. 

What I do next is grab my calendar and circle that date and then back into my training prep for it.  I know there are a ton of books and philosophies out there about race training, peaking properlyyou’re your event, etc  and I highly recommend you reading as much as you possibly can.  What I’ve found over the years is that we’re all snowflakes and what works amazingly well for one person may not be the magic ticket for the next person, so when I share what works for me, please keep that in mind.  It may be great for me, but you may need to modify for yourself.

Here’s what I know about me.  Let’s say my event is on Saturday, the last day I can go long and hard will be Tuesday of race week.  I’ll hit it hard that Tuesday, middle of the road workout on Wednesday, light Thursday and nothing or at least nothing over 120 beats per minute on my heart rate monitor Friday.

I’ll do a “test” of my event the Saturday before.  So, if I’m doing a triathlon I’ll do the same distances or longer on the Saturday before. 

I’ll take my calendar and block out my long days, my brick days (where I do 2 of the 3 disciplines in triathlon) and my light days.   I decide how many days I need to ride my bike, run and swim to feel more than prepared to handle the event and I’ll line out my weeks schedules and line it up with what my other life obligations are and tweak things to make it all fit.

My calendar will be set up, my competitive juices will be pumped and that inner drive will be rolling.

Basically, I will become mobilized.

There’s a tremendous difference between being motivated and being mobilized.  I’ll leave you with my thoughts on the distinction. 

You go to a pep rally and get motivated.  You ever been to a pep rally, or to see a motivational speaker? You are all fired up for a little while and then the fanfare dies down and you settle back into your old practices.

When I sign up for a race, I become mobilized.  I now have a deep rich story about why I am working out, what my workouts are going to be, what the expectation is as far as what my workouts will produce.  I set in my head my story about how I want that race/event to go and I am now fired up and in motion that doesn’t die down easily.  The story lives within me, not on the outside of me and it produces action, and results and transformation.

Get in the race.  Get mobilized.  Be in the moment in your own life.

I can’t wait to see you out there!

Melly Mel