Mantras for Achieving Your Goals - Mental Strength

I never considered myself one to talk about mental strength - I don't like being tired, cold, or hungry (go figure!). And yet many amazing opportunities over the last couple of years have shown me first-hand some fundamental principles of mental strength that can help you achieve your goal. Take mountain bike racing for example - I picked up this fun racing sport for three reasons. During my first racing season, I came to a stark realization (a true 'aha' moment) - you have to believe you can win AND believe you deserve to win. It was that realization (on that day) that gave me not just my first victory in mountain bike racing, but first victory EVER!

If you are training for a race or specific goal, below are the top four important mental 'mantras' for achieving your goal -

1. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

• FOCUS on your goal and know what you want (be it a marathon finish time, 10 -foot wave, snowboarding down black diamonds).


• FOCUS on the present moment and then breath (see 'jedi powers'). When you get fatigued, cold, or hungry (because it will happen and be painful), breath and focus on your next move. One step at a time.


• FOCUS on your body and movements. This applies to those sports where there is no damage control - it's do or... well...hit hard! Focus on your weight in your feet, keep your core engage and awake, and relax your shoulders.

2. "NEVER, NEVER, NEVER... GIVE UP"

This was the famous last words when talking to Paul Romero before setting out for my first adventure race. The mind does tricky things when you embark on a long and painful 'adventure'. It is like having two 'mental' doors - "you can" door and "you can't" door. The fatigue and pain will play games on your mind and you may be tempted to go into the 'you can't door. Stay away from that door and don't even think it. If you give even a second thought to "you can't" - you're done. This has nothing to do with your physical state - it's all mental. Refer to #1 -- Focus on your goal - and yes YOU CAN!!

3. SUPPORT

Surround yourself with people and places where you feel supported. Friends who love the sport, friends who have seen you train, family who believes in you. When you are feeling low and in the dumps, their words of encouragement will be as welcome as that cup of water on a hot day.

4. BELIEVE

Believe it, feel it, own it! You have to believe you can do it and visualize your goal as clearly as possible.

I remember those moments fondly after my mountain bike race, after my adventure race, after running last few miles with a client in a half marathon - those goals that were achieved were not hard physically... it was all mental. How well could you focus and believe. When friends and family were present, I was so excited to share with them in my achievements and how grateful I was that they were there. The funny thing about achieving your goals...you set new ones and the process starts over as you continue to overcome new obstacles.

Focus & Believe!

Chi

** oh, as far as those three reasons for racing - learn new places to ride, feel safe when riding alone, see how fast I can ride.

Muscle Cramping - Sweat & Tears

As a trainer, fitness related questions or concerns happen in 3's. I may have three clients with lower back pain or three clients with knee 'discomfort'. When these 3's come up, I research the issue for cause, remedy, and prevention.

In the last few days, muscle cramps has been a recent concern. Take riding friend Louis for example - a fit & healthy guy with a passionate attitude toward any sport. In a five-hour ride in Lake Morena over the weekend, he suffered so much muscle cramping that I started to call him PMS. And David (adventure racing teammate in Desert Wind Expedition Race in Mojave Desert) had several days of muscle cramping during the race that left him, not just frozen, but aching in pain. Once cramping comes on, getting rid of it is a challenge in itself - the spinal cord keeps sending signals to contract. The solution - prevention.

Cause

There are several reasons you can cramp - dehydration, lack of electrolytes, exposure to extreme heat or humidity, and overexertion. In other cases, you may be on medication that depletes the body of certain important electrolytes; and in that case,you need to talk to your physician.

The muscles are full of water and electrolytes and together they help bring nutrients to the muscles allowing them to contract while removing waste. When you get depleted of water or nutrients, the body is not able to work as effectively. I'm not one to throw age as a performance concern, but as you get older the muscles lose their ability to function. Only you know really which factor is inhibiting you the most.

Prevention

1. HYDRATE - not just during your activity but throughout the day or days leading up to your event. The body is made up of 60% water and loss of water through exercise can effect the way your muscles contract and remove waste products.

2. LYTES - sodium is a critical electrolyte. Other important electrolytes are potassium, calcium, and magnesium. When you lose water through sweating, you want to be sure you replace not just the water but the electrolytes lost with your sweat (especially salt). The guidelines recommend 500-700 mg of sodium for every liter you consume during exercise which exceeds an hour. Don't just reach for that banana - be sure to have a healthy diet full of different fruits, vegetables, and whole foods.

3. TRAINING - follow an exercise plan that is progressive and training the muscles you use. sounds simple enough but many of you play different sports. You may be going on a three-day vacation to Mammoth; be sure to prepare your legs, calves, back, core for the snowboarding or skiing for you'll be doing several hours a day. Besides preparing your body, prepare your digestive system with an electrolytes replacement of choice. Nuun are a favorite in the adventure racing world.

4. FORM - when you're doing a repetitive motion, those muscles fatigue and get overworked. analyze the motion and evaluate if you are moving as efficiently as possible.

5. HEAT/HUMIDITY - this one is tough because it is hard to overcome conditions that you aren't accustomed to. In situations where you are overexerting yourself due to heat or humidity, be cautious of your exertion levels and chill out a bit. Taking electrolyte tables are effective. I learned this lesson during the 5-day expedition race over the summer - "electrolytes on the hour, every hour of the race" racing friend Paul Romero.

(Teammate, David, tying the rope after our final leg of a 1500 foot repel section. It was over 100 degrees and we had been up for over 24 hours. We still had three days to go.)

Train hard, train smart!

Chi-lyte