5 Days Until Opening Ceremonies!

January 21, 2005

The event is getting quite close- only 5 more days
until the opening ceremonies. People are still working on getting their
plan down, getting their routines finalized, choosing equipment, and more
people are starting to get rested up.

The course and the encampments of each team are quite
cool social areas. There are always about 20 people training at any given
time, as well as teams having meetings, people hanging out and having
breakfast, lunch, or dinner at the course, as well as just staying in
the shade or even working on their tan.

Opening Ceremonies is step one, and then there is no
turning back, the train will be on the tracks and heading for its final
destination; closing ceremonies. By closing ceremonies, there will be
a world champion in each class, and there will be a silver and bronze
medal winner as well. Obviously everybody wants it to be them, some feel
more strongly about their chances than others, and quite often the more
strongly somebody feels they “should win” or “deserve
to win” the more stressed they get during competition because they
can lose something as well as win something. The more somebody treats
the goal as something worth winning but considers themselves to have a
clean slate and no equity invested, the more focused they can stay on
the task at hand instead of the title that looms like a beacon trying
to draw your focus away from the job to do. That is my opinion, and that
of my wife, Kristine as well, that knows only too well how much I want
to win. For her, her only advice to me before my rides is “have
fun”. That is a goal that I am very good at achieving and it puts
me at ease, releases my inner power to put my focus on the crowd, the
show, and the spectacular moves, to achieve a state of being confident
and happy with the physical evidence that the approach is viable in my
scores. It is so against most sports psychology methods, but that is not
my concern. My best slalom races included taking my hand off of my paddle
to wave to my wife during the race (at an appropriate gearing down point
in the course). My best freestyle rides always includes a wave and kiss
to Kristine before I start. Seeing her smile and her mouthing, “have
fun” is enough to help me keep from turning inwards on myself and
losing that explosive confidence that comes from being outwardly focused
and not questioning your reasoning for doing this.