Mindfulness and Racing

Annie here!

Since I’ve last written a blog, I’ve finished up the big chunk of summer training up here in Alaska, done a high intensity September block, and finished our altitude camp in Park City. Elevation, especially sleeping as high as we were (over 8,000 ft), brings challenges both physically and mentally. We spent a lot of time as a team talking about the effects of altitude, both in terms of the physical benefits (increased red blood cells, higher hemoglobin mass, and getting to switch to your slower twitch muscles), but also about the psychological impacts. Elevation impacts everyone differently, and it even impacts our brain chemistry. Our bodies exist in balance wherever it is we call home, whatever the elevation. And a change in that elevation can alter that balance, particularly the ratio of dopamine to serotonin. This means that elevation not only carries physical impact, but mental impact. 

With the first few races of the super tour this year at elevation–Canmore and Soldier Hollow–it's great to practice the physical change and prepare our bodies for the change and put ourselves in the best position to race well. However, one piece I’ve been thinking a lot about the past couple weeks has been how do we prepare our mind to race. 

Racing isn’t like training. It’s fierce, it’s aggressive, it’s emotional, and it’s taxing. So much of racing comes down to our ability to be in the moment. Whether it's how well we decide to take a turn, how many more pushes over the hill, deciding how much longer to stay with the pack, all of these decisions are happening in the moment of the race. If we get out of the moment, those decisions are delayed. Sometimes, being taken out of the present moment can be a variety of time distance from the present. They can be small: “There’s a downhill corner ahead that I don’t like, I’m going to slow down.” They can be thoughts about the end of the race: “There’s no way I’ll be able to hold that pace for another lap… I should slow down.” Or… in the toughest of times they can be thought nowhere near the reality of the race: “Last year, I did terribly on this course. I’ll probably do terrible today.” Anxiety is never about the present moment. Oftentimes if we finish a race feeling like we didn’t experience it in the way we wanted, its often because we weren’t present enough. 

The tough part is… these thoughts are inevitable. But our response to them is not. Every single one of those negative mid-race non-present thoughts, has a response within it that can bring us back to the present. For instance, instead of a worried thought about the downhill telling you to slow down you can think, “No, this corner is an opportunity for time, I’m going to be brave and push round.” In regards to holding pace, trust the pace in the moment. Tell yourself, “I can hold this pace now, focus on this lap, this hill, this section.” I always like to tell myself that I don’t necessarily need to speed up, I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and let the race come to me. Oftentimes I tell myself that, and my splits end up negative because I end up feeling the fire on the last lap.

Thoughts that are so far from the reality of the race, also have a response that can bring us back to the present. In moments when my mind wanders to past races, or even races in the future that I worry about mid race, I remind myself that you can only race the race you are in. All others are either gone, or not real. 

Mantras like these, “Race the race you're in” or whatever you find works for you, can be a great tool to bring us back to the present moment. We can always practice this in our interval sessions, in our distance sessions, or even anytime we are training. 

Sometimes, I like to do mindful intervals when I’m training. Sections of time mid solo distance session, where I will focus on my breathing for five minutes at a time. Similar to mindfulness meditation practices, I center on my breath and I will let my breath be the center of my awareness as I’m skiing or running easily. Obviously because your are running or skiing, you have to have your eyes on the trail or the road to keep yourself upright, but once you are in a rhythm, taking even a minute at a time to train with a quiet mind is great. For me, a person  both with a loud mouth and loud brain, this doesn’t come incredibly easy. The first time I tried it, it was practically impossible. But just like how interval training for our body increases our tolerance over time, mindfulness is a muscle and a skill that needs to be grown and trained over time with slowness and patience in mind. This is why we interval train! We don’t just do 10k as hard as we can every single day and expect the 10k to get faster and faster. We segment, we train at intervals at lower intensities for longer periods of time so that the race distance and tolerance becomes easier and easier. Our minds aren't much different. 

Recently, I try to spend at least 15 minutes of my day meditating. I do a five minute guided breathing in the morning before I start my day, a very intentional five minutes in the middle of my workout at some point to practice presence mid workout, and a five minute guided breathing before bed. All in all, it’s nothing in the span of a 12 hour day. But 15 minutes is less than the length of a five kilometer race… At first, even two minutes o f meditation for me was no fun at all, in fact at times pretty painfully frustrating. But like interval training, we adapt, we change, and we gain tolerance. 

I had a coach tell me once that the difference between a good race and a great race, can sometimes be just 15 seconds. The 15 seconds doesn’t come from the toughness in the body. 

Those final 15 seconds almost always belong to the mind. I’d argue that these 15 seconds are both the easiest to train (as we can train them by sitting and breathing), and also the hardest (as learning to get good at breathing… is shockingly hard). 

The great thing about mindfulness practice (much like exercise and fitness), is that this skill isn’t just one we do for our racing. We do this for our mental health, we do this for our wellbeing, and we do this to ground ourselves in a world that is moving faster than we can comprehend it. How great it is that we do a sport that teaches us to go fast, but also slow down. 

I’m taking that slow down to heart right now. Now that I’m done with our elevation training, I’m back in Bend before a quick family vacation to Hawaii to get some much needed recovery and oxygenation in my blood. My goal for the next two weeks is to enjoy some time with my family, soak up the vitamin D before heading back up to Anchorage where the sun is low, but there is snow on the ground, and to be mindful of my body and mind. I’m excited for the racing ahead, and I”m proud of the work I’ve put in this summer, but for now… I’m just going to focus on the race I’m in.

Julia Kern and I mid-heat at the Shutzenski Festival.

Practicing the strength of the body…and brain…

A selfie with my friend Shea at Soldier Hollow. All smiles!