Transformation Machines

5Five Rules to Excel in a Race

Saturday August₁ 2009 · ‹Psychology› · 2724 Views
 

This summer, I participated in a relay race. Despite it being a relay, runners were also timed individually. While I am not a regular runner, I managed to place a fair rank.

During the race, I discovered five rules which helped me get through it and finish with a better result than expected.

Uphill, downhill, flat, it does not matter: never get out of breath. As long as I can control my breath, I remain flexible; I can run faster or slower as needed. If I loose my breath, I immediately lower my pace until I can maintain a regular breathing rhythm again.

Throughout the race, my breath stays regular and controlled. I breath in two steps through my nose and breath out two steps through my mouth. This rhythm I maintain until the finish line. Since breathing and running is tightly coupled, maintaining control over my breath is the absolute priority.

A prerequisite for controlling my breath is to be able to hear it. I consciously breath in and out to allow myself focusing on the sound it makes. Some people go the other way and wear an MP3 player. I tried running to music once and found that the beat was interfering with my breathing and running pace.

I find it comforting to hear my own breath. Under the harsh conditions of the race, the rhythm gives me something I can hold on to. Without any disturbance, my breathing fills my consciousness and I fall into a trance.

When people overtake me, I let them take off. Although my ego is tempted to counter the opponent’s attack, I try to resist. Otherwise, I would risk loosing my pace. The race is timed at the end of the race, not at this particular moment. If I have better condition I will overtake them again later. And if not, I did not waste any energy on an opponent I could not win against anyway.

During the race, people were passing me especially on the downhill. I noticed their irregular breath, so I had confidence in being able to overtake them later. Sure enough, as soon as it got flat, I managed to pass them again. Except for a few runners at the start, nobody who overtook me could keep the lead over me.

I avoid situations where I have no runner in front of me. Without a reference for the race speed, I cannot set and maintain a high pace for myself.

If the next runner is far ahead, I make an effort to catch up with them. 50 feet seems a good distance to let myself be pulled, and it is also a good strike distance shall I feel like overtaking them.

Since I usually have somebody in front of me, I can relate their pace and condition to mine. When I realize that I can afford a higher pace without loosing my breath, I overtake them. Overtaking another competitor rewards me with a boost of self confidence.

If my opponent counters my attack, I pull through with my pace. As the opponent is in reactive mode, I am in psychological and physical advantage. Eventually the opponent will give up because a one-on-one race is pointless.

When I run a race, I need to own it. Following these rules saves my running pace from being distracted by my competitors. Should the rules ever contradict each other, I remember that the most important one is to control my breath.

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