Losing the Lead
Have you ever been watching a sporting event where a team or individual is in the lead, they lose the lead and that’s the end of them? It happens all the time. I remember watching track during the Olympics and saw this happen a lot. I also see this a lot in tennis. During competition I have felt this. I’d be competing in a triathlon, having finished the swim and bike and running a great pace when all of a sudden someone I just passed is passing me. I can remember several races where I held on for a while but ended up giving up before the finish.
There is something about being in first place or the lead or giving it your all until something changes and you aren’t in first place, you aren’t in the lead and giving it your all is no longer enough.Your brain goes: things were going along really well. What just happened? That’s the first problem. Your brain has switched from a type of cruise control to thinking about fear, worries and doubts. The second problem is that because of the negative thinking now your muscles get tight and your can’t move or react the way you need to. You see the lead slipping away. Your brain decides that you cannot catch up so you finally decide to give up.
Has this happened to you? Why? The top 2 reasons are the ones I gave above: your brain switching from cruise control to negative thinking and that thinking tensing and tightening your muscles. When we lose the lead there is a psychological switch in us that tends to turn off. The smart thing in these situations is to keep going the way you were going or find a way to use that loss of the lead as motivation.
In my late 20’s I was doing a lot of road racing. I would do a 5-10K every weekend. (Back in the day) I was a pretty good runner! A friend and her Dad who were also runners. We did a lot of the same local upstate New York races. I remember one Saturday we were all racing in a local 10K. I crossed the finish line pissed because I didn’t finish as well as I wanted to. My friends Dad said, did you give it your all? Are you tired? I said no. He said, why didn’t you run faster? I said, I didn’t want to run out of gas. He said, when has that ever happened to you? I said, never. He said, next time run the race as fast as you can and see what happens. The fact of the matter is, our bodies can go much, much faster and further than our minds will allow. Don’t let your mind drive the direction of where you want to go!
Happy February!
Dr. Michelle
