Elite/expert racers of pinkbike...what is your mindset when racing. How fast are you going?

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Elite/expert racers of pinkbike...what is your mindset when racing. How fast are you going?
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flag humoroususername
Posted: Sep 5, 2022 at 21:25 Quote
Thanks for the replies. Its definitely not a physical thing. I have a resting HR of 38 and can run a sub 19 minute 5km right now without having trained in months and would be significantly more muscular than the other 3. I've won multi discipline running, biking, kayaking races and would be relatively strong in the gym. I'm probably the fittest/strongest of the 4 of them. That's the thing though, I'm not pushing myself in these races. I didn't feel particularly tired at the end of the race on Sunday and I feel like I'm holding back.

I think I'm going to just try maintain my fitness over the winter and see if I can change my approach to life in general. The other area where I see this is swimming. I never learned how to swim a kid and I've gone for lessons a few times. One day I would appear to be getting it and swimming quite comfortably, the next day I would be unsure of myself flailing around and really struggling/caught for breath. In those situations i am unable to regain my composure and do what I did the week before quite easily. I feel like I get like that with biking when I race. I feel wooden and stiff instead of loose and fluid and start doing basic things quite badly. I think I have an ability to put immense pressure on myself that causes me to freeze up rather than perform.

This probably requires some deeper thought and reflection on how I approach things. I don't really buy the ADHD as I think labels are toxic things and would just give me an excuse to not try to change things. As far as I've always been told the brain is plastic and can be reprogrammed so I don't believe things like attention/focus can't be worked on.
flag rahrider
O+
Posted: Sep 5, 2022 at 21:29 Quote
Not sure if you read any of my suggestions, above but it sounds like you could use them.

If you can't focus on something as simple as riding a bike, I can only assume that this is playing itself out in other parts of your life. Sport was how I figured out how to focus my strengths. Without sport and the mental toughness I developed through it, I would have never got into let alone finished medical school. I guarantee you that if you commit some time and energy to developing this aspect of yourself and learn how to focus your mental energy, you will find it is something you use for the rest of your life.

 


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