Marathon Reveal and Beginner’s Mindset
Athletic Mentality
Perhaps you have thought of running long distances like a 10K, half marathon, or a full one. My advice – go for it; it will enhance your body and mind and eliminate a someday- regret. The key to doing any of those is the beginning. If you can get through the initial weeks when the body has many aches from getting back into shape and the mind is continually questioning why you are doing this, you have it made. Kind of kidding because even though your running habit has formed, it’s still a tough road. Here are the lessons I heed when I begin a task:
Expect the honeymoon to remain for only a short spell before the hard examinations arrive.
The difference-maker is the mental game to maintain an even keel for the rollercoaster of emotions.
The little wins along the way are the avenue to the World Series, the finish line, and peace of mind.
I think daily about what it will take to run another marathon as I begin working on my 17th marathon. So with that in mind - drum roll, please - ♫♫♫ ♫♫♫♫♫♫!
Marathon Reveal
The time has come for me to step it up. In fact, it will take about 55,000 beyond-walking steps to reach where I want to get to as I begin four and a half months of training for my 17th marathon. In a previous blog, I offered a hint about where I would run. For those who didn’t read it, here’s the quiz - Where’s the home of the first soft pretzel, the premier of Dick Clark’s ‘American Bandstand,” the first hospital and zoo in the U.S., and what city is the mural capital of the United States?
For one last clue, Bruce Springsteen pops into my head, “I was bruised and battered; I couldn’t tell what I felt.” There it is; the suspense and teasing are over: I will tackle the City of Brotherly Love, The Philadelphia Marathon, this coming November. Even better news related to the movie theme of Philadelphia and Springsteen’s song Streets of Philadelphia is that I will be running to help raise funds for cancer research, with more about that to come in future posts.
Marathon Training Start
My fascination for discovering what it takes to succeed has grown over the years. I suppose it’s a natural result of being an athlete and coach, and it remains necessary now that I am running another marathon. That focus has led to finding ways to achieve peak performance through mental and physical development. I follow that up by doing my best to pass on what I’ve learned to athletes so they can translate practice into confident gameplay.
This gets me back to the beginning of training. So many thoughts before beginning rush into my head, and they are all over the board. That is understandable because wavering-confidence mind games occur for all athletes. The positive ones go like this – “I have been here before, so I know it can be done.” Followed almost simultaneously by the negative – “I’m a year older, remaining healthy is a greater concern, and have I really gotten this stupid?”
Once again, that is the life of the athlete – moments of “I got this” followed by “What the ef was I thinking?”
The Real Issue
Therein lies the issue – confidence! It’s tough to grasp its necessity, as I played a whole MLB career without it, but having it is certainly advantageous. It is mind-blowing how it comes and goes so quickly in sports and life, for that matter. From one at-bat to the next, or one marathon training run to the next, it’s there, and then it’s gone. And off the sports field, one day, I wake up and feel like I can conquer anything, while the next, I dread what I must do that day. It’s a constant battle of playing and living which makes it all interesting but also wears us down.
Like the confidence conundrum, beginnings are equally confounding. They typically have positive prospects and enthusiasm, with cautious anticipation participating as much. It’s vital to realize that starts are only sometimes indicative of the outcomes, and results can surprise you when you do not jump to conclusions and remain optimistic.
My Professional Baseball Beginning Experience
As an example, an odd start occurred in my first professional baseball experience. I arrived at the Los Angeles Dodgers A-ball team with unreal excitement and first-day unease. Arriving too late to dress for the game, I watched the end of my new team’s embarrassing loss. My unmet manager fired off a post-game F-bomb rant that doubled the number I heard the word in the past. How do you say "intimidating?" I soon realized the unmentionable, and the rant came with the business. Our irate coach threatened changes to the team, and he proved to be a man of his word. Naivety left me that day, and his lecture was a wake-up call.
It was also a necessary learning experience. One, people come and go a lot in high-level business. " Two, "Produce or get lost," is how the system operates because pro sports are a "What have you done for me lately” proposition. Despite the rocky start, the manager proved fair and helped further my career.
The lesson drove home the point that the beginning of marathon training can be a slippery slope, but I can survive it by applying the lessons I’ve learned. So, with hopes that I stay healthy and put in the necessary work, I plan to be celebrating another marathon finish this coming Thanksgiving.
Happy Trails!
