It was right around lap three of six when my mental game imploded.
You shouldn’t have upgraded. What were you thinking, an A?
My legs are so tired, I’m never going to catch the riders right in front of me, its too hard.
Why the hell do I keep paying money to do this?
I hate cross, I suck at cross, I want to go home.
My feeble attempts to counter these went something like: Shut up and pedal!
Unfortunately this was not enough and slow down I did. So I’m trying to come up with some ways to get myself to shut the hell up and focus on doing my best instead of focusing on the pain. I’m thinking of maybe repeating lyrics to myself over and over again from a song like Stonger by Kayne West. And of course thinking “faster! you’re going to win!” even if I’m 2nd to last. For some reason that seems to modivate me, even if I know its a complete lie.
Suffering definitely requires mental toughness. I think you can train by doing killer workouts and then during a race when you are suffering just think that it’s not as tough as workout xyz. Racing with the As is awesome and I’m sure you’ll get better as the season goes on..
A’s….
better you than me!
Nice job not getting lapped! Seriously, I say go for the A’s for at least another time or two. If I can get a couple more decent finishes I will move up myself (Mstr B’s). I figure it is better to be at the back of the pack in a higher category than rule the lower one.