The Art Of Focussing...

Ah yes, the art of focussing. Not an easy task to master for a gal such as I whose brain gerbil likes to spin at top speed on his little wheel. It's easy to tell when the little guy does get tired though...that's when I cease to be able to function and I fall to a heap in a dead sleep. LOL.

I've realized that I need to learn, and master, this art, not only in my personal life, but my professional life as well. Therefore, I've taken on the task of 'staying in the present'. How's it going you ask? Well....

I find that I have to constantly remind myself to come back to the present. Take this morning for instance. Before I could get started on this challenge called focus, I had to do my little girl spazz temper tantrum after looking out the window and seeing 2 inches of snow. @$&#!!!!! Stomp, stomp, stomp! Not that I had planned on going outside, but I had the hope that perhaps we were moving towards spring, not backwards toward winter. Eventually, I made my way to the dungeon to tackle the task of being on the bike for two and a half hours sans music, tv or any other distraction.

This is all part of the grand scheme to help me focus not only when I'm training, but also come race day.

The entire ride was pretty much a struggle to 'stay in the moment'. You'd think it would be easy to defeat a wee gerbil...but he's quite strong and very very stubborn! Hmm, remind you of anyone?! I managed to spend about 70% of my time focussed on my cadence, pedal force, and heart rate. Those times when my mind wanted to wander I would try to 'channel' someone I would love to ride like, or I would do a body check. The body checks seem to work the best as I'd notice my shoulders were creeping up towards my ears, or I'd notice something cool.... like my cadence had picked up and my legs were feeling strong even though i was at the 1.5 hour mark.

This definitely isn't something one masters in a short time; I'm sure it will take years. It isn't a choice though, it's something I will have to work on with each and every workout in order to become a better triathlete. Good thing I like a challenge and I'm stubborn enough not to quit until I master it because I have a feeling it's going to be a bit of a bumpy road. Well, at least it would be a bumpy road if the friggin snow would stop and I could get outside!!!!

So here we are, at day one of my 12 week build to IMCDA. I think today was a good start. I accomplished my daily goal and I didn't let my mind go into a spiral thinking about the race and all that I have to get done beforehand. Phew.

Onwards and upwards!

Peace out my friends.