V-CLUB TRAINING CORNER
We’ve teamed up with Marilyn Trout, certified USA Cycling Elite Coach to answer V-Club members’ training questions. You can view her coach profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mountainpedalscoaching80903
Send your cycling inquiries to Marilyn, and for a limited time, if yours is selected to be answered in our V-Club column, VeloWear will send you a $20 gift certificate that can be used towards any purchase on VeloWear.com. To submit your inquiry, e-mail her at trout_mic@msn.com, and type “V-Club Training Question” in the subject line of the e-mail.
As a Man Thinketh
by Marilyn Trout
I've been reading a tiny booklet, "As a Man Thinketh" written by James Allen in the mid 1800's. I remember my Mom quoting him when I was a child; I couldn't understand it but knew that it probably was important since she committed it to memory. Mom told me recently that she memorized it so she could put herself in a better frame of mind while washing the floors. Although, I chose to spend most of my life in the saddle than washing floors (sorry, Mom), it strangely reminds me of a lecture from a Sports Psych class. Something to "put ourselves in a better frame of mind" to bridge the gap, push hard over the crest, hang on a wheel and so many other painful situations that may crack us. I use "may" and not "will" because there is a choice involved which is both personal and intentional.
Mind is the Master-power that moulds and makes,
And Man is Mind and evermore he takes,
The tool of Thought, and shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:-
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking glass.
Here are some other good thoughts in the booklet. Although the garden comparison may not strike the right chord with you, the principles are indeed powerful and worthy of application.
A man's mind can be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated
or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then
an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing
the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind,
weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating
toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts.
By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is
the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life.
Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind,
and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act,
and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance.
Good thoughts produce good fruit, bad thoughts produce bad fruit.
I believe that if you have it as your #1 goal, to sow good thought-seeds during the preparation of your event and certainly, off your bike, the daily grind stuff, you will dig up untold treasure that is waiting to be discovered. What are those good thought-seeds? Though the seed packets may be planted differently, the end result is the same..."Can-do" flowers, "Relaxation" bulbs, "Go-with-the-Flow ivy, and other VERY important "harvests" with corny names.
Get the right tools you need in your toolbox to sow and cultivate these seeds. Don't wait until the crunch to desperately hunt for good thoughts, start sowing them now. It's too tough, nay impossible, to start sowing when fatigue sets in. All you'll have to reach for is some dried ol' crusty seedpods that are good for nothing at that point. Some seedlings are what you need before the weeds of anxiety, doubt, pain, insecurity... take root and start to choke. These useless and destructive thoughts have to be exterminated by specific tools designed and put in your toolbox by YOU. Know also that your toolbox needs to be maintained with the basics and with the fancier "3-Hand" tools as you recognize the need for refinements in your "weed-pulling."
Oh yes, use the tools regardless of how you feel. There WILL be times that you'll see that the tool box is full but you'll think you don't have the energy or desire to pick anything up...pick it up anyway!
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