Psychological balance is necessary for making right decisions under pressure. A big race can be hugely stressful, with the mind bouncing obsessively between thoughts of achieving one’s ambition and blowing it in some embarrassing way.
Psychological balance is necessary for making right decisions under pressure. A big race can be hugely stressful, with the mind bouncing obsessively between thoughts of achieving one’s ambition and blowing it in some embarrassing way.
Balance is the ability to walk a knife edge between right and wrong thinking. Obsession is thinking gone amok. So, the underlying issue is how to control one’s thinking to bring about preferred results. During a race, it may mean stopping unproductive thoughts before they have a chance to influence decision-making.
But recognizing obsession in the moment isn’t easy. Obsession always identifies with one’s ambition, as though achieving your desire determines who you are. By contrast, a balanced mind knows it must take charge of the thinking process for the success of the racing venture. In this context, meditation is a means to controlling the mind and producing desired results.
Even the simple act of sitting quietly and counting one’s breaths can be useful. A well-practiced mind can count many consecutive breaths without being interrupted. The activity of counting breaths quiets the mind and demonstrates that our essential nature is not our thinking. We are essentially the entity that chooses the thoughts we will cultivate, while nipping in the bud those we deem counterproductive.
This process takes a certain psychological balance which, fortunately, we can cultivate through regular meditation. The main goal of the meditative project is to hone our ability to focus attention on some object, without having it shifted elsewhere by discursive thoughts or other distractions. So, who’s in charge of your attention? Can you place it unwaveringly on your breathing for more than a minute? Or are you hard-pressed to keep it there for more than a few seconds? With practice your attention will settle where you want it, rather than flitting from one distraction to another.
“A clear mind expands your capacity for exertion; a preoccupied mind contracts capacity and makes your effort harder than it could be.”
This ability to concentrate has myriad benefits for life in general, but for racing in particular. A clear mind expands your capacity for exertion; a preoccupied mind contracts capacity and makes your effort harder than it could be. The better you can focus your attention on your running form, your breathing, and your energy the better you’ll perform in racing and in life. In this regard, thinking is the enemy.
You don’t need to think during a race; in fact, not thinking is the preferred mental state. If you’ve rehearsed, practiced, and envisioned a race as we do in this training, there is no need to think about things during a race. It’s better to turn off your mind so you can attend to the internal, sensory side of racing. Think of a race as a time when your body will take your clear mind for a ride.
A well-chosen “mantra” can assist in the mind-clearing process so you can attend to important details. A mantra is simply a phrase that comes up in the moment, which you repeat for as long as it’s needed. During your warm-up before a race, for instance, you could repeat “I’m calm and in control and patiently waiting for my body to warm up.” During the race, you could repeat, “Short and quick; short and quick,” say, 1000 times!
A mantra isn’t as important as its result, which is to stop your thinking so you can focus on the internal running experience. The more you focus inwardly, the better you can manage the complexities of effort and energy, maintaining your form, or staving off an injury. The thinking process is overrated unless circumstances really warrant it. And even then, you must be mindful of balancing between reality and obsession.