Psyching yourself out
Here is my POSITIVE THINKING story for today about my KID. 
My son, Thomas, is 15 years old. In May, he ran the Green Bay 5K in 21:59 which was quite remarkable considering he hadn't trained. He was around the 12th fastest in his age group. I don't remember exactly, but that is close. Anyway, during the summer he sporadically trained with the goal of joining the high school cross country team.
And, he did join which is another remarkable feat, (no pun intended), but you'd have to know Thomas to understand why. The first 2 mile time trial they ran he finished in 12:43 which is an average of about a 6:21 mile. He was totally psyched!!!! That would be around a 19:20 5k. But, his first race he ran in 22:02 or so which was closer to a 7:10 mile pace. He was also bummed because he'd finished slower than the 5K 4 months previous, and he had been training for this race for weeks! Throughout the season, his times have been around the 22 minute mark. The meet last weekend he finished in 22:43. He was REALLY bummed about that one. But, he had psyched himself out.
The thing is - Thomas' battle isn't against the other kids - his battle is within his own mind. He had psyched himself out with negative thinking - despite my fervent attempts to combat it with positive reinforcement. He doesn't have spikes yet and is convinced (partly by his coaches) that he will only run faster if he wears spikes. Interestingly, Thomas always finishes STRONG and blows past lots of other boys at the end. His coach told him he MUST run track next spring because he has such great speed, and this was a huge self-esteem booster. So, I made a really big deal about it to him.
Yesterday, in rainy and muddy conditions, Thomas ran another race. Not with varsity or junior varsity but with the "C" team...the slowest kids...and I figured this would hurt his self-esteem a little more. I left work early to watch - even though I REALLY did not want to stand in the pouring rain. But, at least I wasn't RUNNING in the rain! See - positive thinking at work. So, the rain had subsided for his race. Yeah! The boys ran the first lap and Thomas was in the front pack of 20 boys!!!!!! WOW!!! They came around again, and he was still in that front pack!!! He usually finishes in the bottom 1/3 when it is JV and C-team combined.
The third time around he had fallen behind. Oh no!!! But, he was still ahead of his regular pace. I should have told him that, but didn't think of it soon enough. So, they're running around the corner towards the finish line...my daughter and I are waiting and waiting. Then, I spot him!!! Sprinting towards the finish although not quite as hard as usual. I'm yelling to him, of course...and he finishes in 20:36!!!!!! TWO MINUTES FASTER than the last race and about 1:17 faster than his best time...and without spikes.
He wasn't sure yet what he had done differently. He ran the first mile in 6:00 minutes which is his fastest split thus far. He said he didn't feel any worse than usual and actually recovered his breathing quicker. And, he admitted he didn't sprint as fast as he could have at the end!
On the way home, I told him he had beaten the Green Bay time by almost 1 1/2 minutes. He was confused. He said he thought he'd been running at least a minute slower than the Green Bay race this whole season. He thought he'd finished it in 20:59. So, every time he finished a race in around 22:00 he felt REALLY horrible. With each race, he had mentally psyched himself out a little more based upon faulty negative thinking.
What was the difference in this race? Don't know yet. Maybe it was because he was racing with the C team and didn't care as much because he had given up on the season. The stress and pressure was gone. Thomas has exhibited such WILL POWER at each race with his ability to sprint at the end even though he'd been ready to quit 1 1/2 miles earlier. Every race I raved about him and told him how awesome he was and how impressive it was he could manage to find the WIND and LEGS to do that.
What it really came down to at the end of all those races was he was able to use the POWER OF HIS MIND to tell his legs GO! He didn't know it, but he was using POSITIVE THINKING! He ignored the negative circumstances of his sides aching and his legs cramping and his desire to puke and collapse on the ground. He had the WILL to finish as fast as he could. It was a THRILL for him to fly past 2 dozen other boys at the end.
Now that he has beaten his fastest time by 1:17 I am SO POSITIVELY psyched to watch him race next week! Now he KNOWS he can compete with the junior varsity times. I am waiting with such extreme anticipation to see the results of his Positive Thinking next week!
Stay tuned!
My son, Thomas, is 15 years old. In May, he ran the Green Bay 5K in 21:59 which was quite remarkable considering he hadn't trained. He was around the 12th fastest in his age group. I don't remember exactly, but that is close. Anyway, during the summer he sporadically trained with the goal of joining the high school cross country team.
And, he did join which is another remarkable feat, (no pun intended), but you'd have to know Thomas to understand why. The first 2 mile time trial they ran he finished in 12:43 which is an average of about a 6:21 mile. He was totally psyched!!!! That would be around a 19:20 5k. But, his first race he ran in 22:02 or so which was closer to a 7:10 mile pace. He was also bummed because he'd finished slower than the 5K 4 months previous, and he had been training for this race for weeks! Throughout the season, his times have been around the 22 minute mark. The meet last weekend he finished in 22:43. He was REALLY bummed about that one. But, he had psyched himself out.
The thing is - Thomas' battle isn't against the other kids - his battle is within his own mind. He had psyched himself out with negative thinking - despite my fervent attempts to combat it with positive reinforcement. He doesn't have spikes yet and is convinced (partly by his coaches) that he will only run faster if he wears spikes. Interestingly, Thomas always finishes STRONG and blows past lots of other boys at the end. His coach told him he MUST run track next spring because he has such great speed, and this was a huge self-esteem booster. So, I made a really big deal about it to him.
Yesterday, in rainy and muddy conditions, Thomas ran another race. Not with varsity or junior varsity but with the "C" team...the slowest kids...and I figured this would hurt his self-esteem a little more. I left work early to watch - even though I REALLY did not want to stand in the pouring rain. But, at least I wasn't RUNNING in the rain! See - positive thinking at work.
So, the rain had subsided for his race. Yeah! The boys ran the first lap and Thomas was in the front pack of 20 boys!!!!!! WOW!!! They came around again, and he was still in that front pack!!! He usually finishes in the bottom 1/3 when it is JV and C-team combined. The third time around he had fallen behind. Oh no!!! But, he was still ahead of his regular pace. I should have told him that, but didn't think of it soon enough. So, they're running around the corner towards the finish line...my daughter and I are waiting and waiting. Then, I spot him!!! Sprinting towards the finish although not quite as hard as usual. I'm yelling to him, of course...and he finishes in 20:36!!!!!! TWO MINUTES FASTER than the last race and about 1:17 faster than his best time...and without spikes.
He wasn't sure yet what he had done differently. He ran the first mile in 6:00 minutes which is his fastest split thus far. He said he didn't feel any worse than usual and actually recovered his breathing quicker. And, he admitted he didn't sprint as fast as he could have at the end!
On the way home, I told him he had beaten the Green Bay time by almost 1 1/2 minutes. He was confused. He said he thought he'd been running at least a minute slower than the Green Bay race this whole season. He thought he'd finished it in 20:59. So, every time he finished a race in around 22:00 he felt REALLY horrible. With each race, he had mentally psyched himself out a little more based upon faulty negative thinking.
What was the difference in this race? Don't know yet. Maybe it was because he was racing with the C team and didn't care as much because he had given up on the season. The stress and pressure was gone. Thomas has exhibited such WILL POWER at each race with his ability to sprint at the end even though he'd been ready to quit 1 1/2 miles earlier. Every race I raved about him and told him how awesome he was and how impressive it was he could manage to find the WIND and LEGS to do that.
What it really came down to at the end of all those races was he was able to use the POWER OF HIS MIND to tell his legs GO! He didn't know it, but he was using POSITIVE THINKING! He ignored the negative circumstances of his sides aching and his legs cramping and his desire to puke and collapse on the ground. He had the WILL to finish as fast as he could. It was a THRILL for him to fly past 2 dozen other boys at the end.
Now that he has beaten his fastest time by 1:17 I am SO POSITIVELY psyched to watch him race next week! Now he KNOWS he can compete with the junior varsity times. I am waiting with such extreme anticipation to see the results of his Positive Thinking next week!
Stay tuned!
Thank you for the great story! It is amazing what we can achieve when we think positive. I'm sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of next weeks race story.
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