Running the RedBull 400 -and the mental skills I used to finish.
By: Tom Gemignani
Tags: Meditation, Sport, Race, Competition, Red Bull

MAKE SURE YOUR KIT IS PREPPED

This is an easy one. It’s not like you need a ton of gear to run up a hill but none-the-less, making sure you have what you need to be physically and mentally prepared is such a simple box to check. For beginners, it’s probably important to have a few wholesome snacks, plenty of water, electrolytes, and layers in the event Mother Nature turns a bit ugly. For you more paranoid folks, it’s probably a good idea to bring a first aid kit, some salt pills for the inevitable muscle cramps, an extra change of clothes, blankets or chairs to sit on, and that full SPF sunscreen. For myself personally, I brought a yoga mat and foam roller because at the very least I didn’t want to get halfway up the hill, only to strain a hammy and have to half-hobble, half-throw myself back down. The first step is being confident is intelligent preparation, don’t show up to any event or performance half-cocked.

GET YOUR COOKIE JAR READY

No matter the task, there will always be moments where self-doubt begins to creep in. Front-loading your mind with tools necessary to overcome this obstacle is an essential step to achieving what’s right in front of you. In events such as the RedBull 400 where your mind’s ability to handle pain is stretched, you’ll inevitably meet questions that bubble up like:

What are you doing this?

What’s keeping you from stopping?

What is the major drivers for you towards this achievement?

What have you done that gives you a right to be here?

Having a readily prepared answer is what constitutes a “cookie” from the “Cookie Jar”. As David Goggins, a world-renowned Ultra Marathon runner and former Navy Seal, explains in his book, “Can’t Hurt Me” -”…the Cookie Jar is a concept I’ve employed whenever I need a reminder of who I am and what I’m capable of. We all have a cookie jar inside of us, because life, being what it is, has always tested us. Even if you’re feeling low and beat down by life right now, I can guarantee you can think of a time or two when you overcame odds and tasted success..”

The next step is to pop open the journal and think of some answers to the questions above. While you’re at it jot down a list of personal triumphs. Now, this isn’t a list of easy trophies or elementary first-place ribbons, it’s a sturdy list of moments where you had to overcome adversity, struggled to the finish line, or even accomplished minor achievements that you may have failed in previously. Once you’ve got a snapshot of your “big wins” commit it to memory so when the sailing gets rough, you have a Jack-Sparrow type compass of badassery to direct you through.

”…the Cookie Jar is a concept I’ve employed whenever I need a reminder of who I am and what I’m capable of. We all have a cookie jar inside of us, because life, being what it is, has always tested us. Even if you’re feeling low and beat down by life right now, I can guarantee you can think of a time or two when you overcame odds and tasted success..” — David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

STAY OPTIMISTIC / OR AT THE VERY LEAST TRY TO KEEP IT LESS NEGATIVE

The human mind generates about 1000–3000 thoughts per hour -with further evidence to suggest that 50–60 percent of these thoughts of judgmental, fear-based or rooted in self-doubt. Learning how to master and take the reigns of this thought storm is a never-ending chess game. Most often we want to pivot immediately towards a positive or uplifting thought when things around us start to go wrong. This may work from time to time but rarely does it provide a foothold to better navigate the additional adversity at hand.

By nature, when something goes wrong, the original plan that was intended becomes somewhat null. As we slip into an unpleasant outcome, naturally our negativity begins to show it’s ugly face. When we engage in negative self-talk we sabotage any hope of performing at our best. Recognizing when this happens “in-the-moment” is the first step towards igniting a more beneficial mindset.

The second step is relatively simple, but very difficult to execute on. It’s to be “less negative” or what could be called “non-negative.” Like it was mentioned above, trying to sugar-coat an unwanted circumstance is a strategy that rarely works. When we unconvincingly attempt to make an irreconcilably bad situation look and seem good, most often times things get worse. As the old saying goes, “you can’t polish a turd.”

To navigate this trap, challenge yourself to see the obstacle at hand in a purely objective perspective. Knee kink starting to flare up? Tell yourself you’re going to keep going one step at a time. Notice that this response isn’t “I’m feeling great out here” and it’s not “My knee is going to implode any second now.” It’s objective, neutral, and focused on what’s most relevant to keep you going. By identifying our personal pitfalls and building awareness around what an objective approach looks like to manage these challenges is a tool the world’s elite use during every performance.

RECOGNIZE IT’S JUST YOU VERSUS YOU

Everything in life is a mind game. Whether or not we have competition present, the only REAL obstacle is how well you seat yourself in the appropriate mindset. Regardless of how much talent you have or how often everyone is telling you that you’re a champion, you still have to go out and do it. As soon as we forget, this we relinquish control to our emotions, other people, and the circumstances at hand. By taking a moment to remind yourself that YOU are your biggest opponent, you begin to harness a more adept and resilience approach to navigating life’s trials.

You can take this a step further by exploring the following practice. Start by painting a picture of how you wish to overcome the challenge in front of you. Take a moment to close your eyes and really feel, from a visceral perspective, what it would be like to crush out the goal you’ve set! Try to see it as if it were really happening before your eyes. What other senses can you drop into this experience? The more vivid you can create an image, the more your mind will activate. Once you have a clear picture, try to commit it to memory for later practice. Remember -envisioning success cannot make up for poor work ethic and lost time, you must be willing to couple relentless self-discipline with a strong belief that if the right work is put in, you can achieve anything.

Photo by Etty Fidele on Unsplash

USE THIS THREE-STEP COPING STRATEGY

One of the bigger misconceptions is that stress and anxiety are always bad. This is simply not true. We need stress to survive, we need it to recruit all our abilities, and we need it to grow our skill-set. It’s when we have an imbalance between our abilities to cope with the stress and the stress itself, that things become overwhelming and insurmountable. For situations that ignite a relative stress-response -when the heart begins to race, butterflies might appear, and the mind becomes uncaged, I like to unpack the following questions.

I. Is this situation life-threatening?

99% of the time this is a “no.” Unless your a soldier, fighting fires, or free-soloing El Capitan, you aren’t putting EVERYTHING on the line. By reminding yourself that your life is still not in danger we automatically start to turn-on triggers of the parasympathetic nervous system, or the part of our neural framework that conserves energy, slows down the heart rate, and regulates respiration. This can be incredibly handy particularly for activities that require minimal exertion, such as giving a speech or playing an instrument during a recital.

II. Can I leave this situation?

Oftentimes we might forget that simply avoiding the situation is a great coping strategy. Around people who are putting you down? No one says you need to stick around and take it. Feeling like your legs with collapse if you go another 100 yards? The power to accept defeat is always within your grasp and learning when to say “no” can be a resourceful tool. However, sometimes it can be important to recognize that unwanted consequences can arise from these decisions. Did you give up on your teammates? Not cool. Did you throw in the towel before trying your best? Chances are this will things difficult down the line. Regardless of circumstance, always try to be aware of the “why” behind your “what.”

III. Do I have the appropriate tools and expertise to meet the challenges at hand?

If you find you answered “no” to both of the questions above, this is the final query to contemplate. Unless you’re in a situation that is entirely new and unforeseen-chances are you have some relative expertise to call upon. Think back to all the work you have done to situate yourself within this moment. Recall the hardships you had to overcome for this particular shot. Conjure up some images that illustrate why you’ve owned the right to just be here. If you can provide specific, tangible evidence that highlights the body of the work you’ve put in to be in this situation, you begin to create a much more confident, focused, and resilient mindset.

TAKE SOME MOMENTS TO ENJOY YOURSELF

Something we often forget to remind ourselves of. Practicing the art of gratefulness for things we often take for granted, especially during moments that are physically or emotionally painful, can go a long ways towards building a more positive, flexible attitude. Although I could hardly wait to get back down the hill and relax while watching the next heat, I made sure to take a few moments at the top to breath in my surroundings. And even though my head felt two sizes too big and I almost vommed after a few steps back down, there was a moment of serenity as I gazed out over the treeline towards the horizon. This brief moment in time made it all worth it.

KEEP BREATHING

Similar to Dory’s mantra “just keep swimming,” from Finding Nemo, the ability to break difficult tasks down into sequences of breaths can be game-changing. If we can focus on each part of the breath in turn, we lock into a present moment state of mind and temporarily disengage from uncomfortable sensations. During the final 50 meters of the race, my calves burning, my head pounding, and my chest feeling as if it had a toaster inside of it, the one thing I kept repeating was “just breathe.” Although every breath felt agonizingly more difficult, I realized that I wasn’t going to hold my breath all the way to the top. The only thing to do was to accept my bodies desire to take in more oxygen. Sure it was very uncomfortable, but by simply recognizing the feeling of my body needing to inhale and exhale, the function it does 24/7 regardless of my attention, I temporarily delay the constant whirring thought of “just stop quickly to catch your breath.”

The breath is something we carry with us at all times. Learning how and when to anchor into this sensation is an extremely beneficial tool that can be leveraged in all sorts of situations and mental challenges.