Embracing Now: Living In The Present

It's a paradox of our humanity that we are always living in the present but spend a lot of our time thinking/planning/stressing about the past and the future. It's not that nostalgia is bad. We learn from our experiences and our past mistakes. Planning for the future isn't bad either. Anyone who knows me knows that I love logistics and itineraries. I'm guilty more than once (ok every time) of planning the next trip while I'm still on a trip! 

We can prepare for the future but we can't control it. So stressing about "what ifs" takes away from our power to be present. The classic example is every Ironman Facebook group with a lot of stressed triathletes asking about the water temperature. Asking about it isn't bad, but don't stress about it! Weather is one of those things I encourage to not waste mental energy on because there is nothing they can do to control it. Look at the weather, bring a wetsuit and a swimskin, adjust your tire pressure if it's raining or put on socks and gloves if it's cold. But try not to spend much energy on the "what ifs." Que Sera, Sera. 

Losing Fitness in the Offseason

It's a fine line to walk but in the world of technology and information we live in, learning to be present and live in the NOW can pay huge dividends in our training and racing. It's not running the 17th mile of a marathon that's hard, it's knowing that we have 9 more to go after that that breaks us. A piece of advice and encouragement I'd give from two decades of racing triathlon is- Be present. Be now. Because all you can control is now. THIS swim stroke, pedal stroke, run step. A common trick I use in training is to count my pedal strokes. Somehow, doing 60 more revolutions sounds way easier than 45 seconds when you're on the limit.

In a slightly more macro sense, a trick I learned is to never look too far ahead into the details of a workout before doing it. I budget the time I need and know whether it's going to be hard or easy, but I'm sure we've all stressed about a hard session we have looming over us all day and psyched ourselves out before doing it! I know I've done it. And I bet you have too. 

One more technique I use is to never quit a session before starting. Meaning, I never pull the plug on something without giving it a try. Because even if you're dead tired and unmotivated, 9 times out of 10, once you warm up and do 2-3 reps, you're going to feel ok and be deep enough in that you might as well finish. In the 1 time out of 10 it doesn't get better... well, that's just a good mental hardening day.

Embracing the NOW

It's like the Lance Armstrong quote from the starting line of a rainy Tour of Flanders (or Paris Roubaix, I don't remember). His teammate looked at him nervously as the rain started to come down and said, "Lance, it's raining." Lance smiled and nodded his head. "Yes, it's F*&$ing raining." What he knew was that every other rider on that starting line had just checked out mentally. They were thinking about how cold they would get over the next 5-6 hours and how miserable the day was going to be.

That's the psychology of NOW. 

Embrace each moment and be present with your thoughts, emotions, and sensations as they occur. You can acknowledge them but, depending on the circumstances, choose to listen or not.

Are you tired at mile 22 of a marathon? Good. So is everyone else.

Do you feel great in tonight's swim workout? Great. Enjoy it!

Did you just finished your 3rd VO2 interval and not sure you can do 2 more? You don't have to. Just do one more. After that, you just have to do one more.

Endurance sports involve a lot of training, planning, and working towards big goals. But don't forget that achieving those goals are made up of an indefinite number of decisions made in the NOW.

Embrace Now.

Half Iron Distance - Beginner

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