Zen... and the art of Ironman performance...

I have decided to turn my little fishing trip into a modified training camp for three days. There are some open highways up near 100 mile house and I will be riding from Lone Butte to Clinton and back, which amounts to roughly 140km of riding. There are a few small towns in between that I can use for bathroom breaks and water stops, so this could be a fun little trip. I just need to make sure I carry enough tubes with me! That will be on Sunday...

Then, on Monday, I'm going for a 12-14 mile run in the morning. The altitude should make for an interesting trial as will the roads. I think it will be a good ride and run and some of the solitude will be quite welcome. Plus it is unfamiliar "turf", which has me a little nervous about the conditions, the lack of knowledge of the terrain, etc.

"Man is a thinking reed, but his great works are done when he is not calculating and thinking. Childlikeness has to be restored with long years of training in the art of self-forgetfulness. When this is attained, man thinks yet he does not think." - D.T. Suzuki

The zen-like approach to thinking is a process of letting your mind focus on the moment of what you are doing rather than outside on those things that are presently outside of your control. It is being all here, totally present and absorbed in the moment and becoming connected to the environment you're in, the task, the person you're talking with, etc. It's the process of doing, rather than anayzing or judging.

When we try to take this approach with our training, it is difficult. After all, we're always thinking about the next moment, the race in three weeks, the race two weeks ago, next month's travel plans, etc. It's difficult to come back to the moment and just experience it for what it is, rather than lament what has happened or what is going to happen. We get lost focusing on technique and practice instead of letting our body naturally do what it is meant to do.

It's about getting into a flow, a rhythm, a "zone". The basketball player who is in the "zone" doesn't think about the trajectory of his shot, the perfect shot, the rim, anything. He just shoots. He's so in the moment that he just lets the ball go and it goes in. Hitters in baseball get on streaks. It's amazing. You just can't go wrong. I call it having my "mojo"... A reference to Austin Powers.

Danny Dreyer, author of Chi Running, explains it as letting your "body lead" your run, rather than your head. You don't think of lifting your legs, as your legs lift themselves.

I bring it up because it is something I am working on more and more. In fact every night I'm trying to calm my thinking, and get out of my head for a moment. I've also been doing it in some of my training sessions. Sometimes, I find it, that experience. I don't think, I am not distracted, I am just running, or swimming, or biking. And that's it. It's a weird feeling when you do snap out of it. Here's a good exercise for it:
Try not to think of something or someone. Trying not to think of someone is, still, thinking about them. The trick is to try not to think that you are not going to think of someone...

What purpose does this serve? It's easier to run and perform when you are in the zone, when it feels effortless. When you are counting every step, or every minute, or every stroke, it just becomes a chore... And over 12 hours I don't want to feel like it's a chore. I want to enjoy the moment, focus on the experience and let my body take me from the starting line to the finish line without interference from my brain...

Back Tuesday!