Mind games of late.....

With two steeplechases under my belt for 2012, I am happy to report that things seem to be right on schedule in terms of my personal prep for the Trials.  (Check out the “Schedule” page on my blog if you happened to miss out on either of them). At this point, the challenges shift slightly from what they were a few weeks ago and will continue to change as the Big One approaches.  Through the fall it was all about training. Break and build, break and build- work your butt off, recover as fast as possible, kill yourself again, continue.  Early season racing is about testing yourself while keeping your training load fairly high.  Later it will be about fine-tuning and sharpening up, etc. This whole progression takes place on several levels. The specifics of the training details are the least of my worries, I have a coach to take care of that for me.  Probably not surprisingly, my constant front line battle is in my head.

Despite how the races have played out thus far, four weeks out is not the time to get over excited. I want to take confidence from the previous performances but also keep things in perspective.  I have allowed myself to get nervous about specific people in the past, only to find that they were no where to be seen on race day (because of injury or nerves or whatever).  It’s easy to focus on things that are out of your control-and that is BAD. In times like this, tidbits of advice from past coaches, family, and friends come back to me to keep me grounded……….

“The more you focus on competitors, the more energy you give them.”  That is the LAST thing I want to do.

“Its not over, ‘til its over.”  There are no guarantees about anything, especially in the steeplechase. 

“Keep it simple, stupid.” With momentum going in my direction, the simpler I keep things, the better at this point.

So, here’s the plan:

Step 1: Stay healthy.

Step 2: Trust Coach and my body.

Step 3: Race according to MY plan and not my competitors.

Step 4: Don’t overthink things and make problems out of nothing. 

Step 5: HAVE FUN!! To make it this far has already been a blessing.  I am doing what I love and especially now I get to enjoy the fruits of a solid (painful) fall. 

How about THAT for perspective! Here we go…..ready for anything!