Are you a Champion?
Well, before we can answer this question we need to determine what a champion is, however let me start my saying it’s really about mindset above everything else. As an athlete great preparation and training is really a no-brainer.
If you have been watching the Australian Open (AO) there were two matches that showed a stark difference in the attitude of the players to the game. Both lost the matches in question but one showed the quality of a champion in my view.
Nick Kyrgios in his match seem to not be able to stay in the moment and seemed to be blaming his box for his performance issues however his doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis was composed, in the moment and simply played the best he could at this point of time I think.
So for me a champion is an athlete that is performing at their best right now and can be totally focused and block out all distractions in those critical moments of the game or race!
Another way I like to think about a champion is to think about a gold medal performance. Think about world championships or the Olympic games, the best athlete receives gold, the runner up silver and the third placed bronze as we all know, however how does this apply to us as 50+ athletes?
Our gold level performance is when we beat our PB or win our Age Group, or indeed when we do the best we can on race day and we have left everything we had on the track or field then we know that it was a gold medal performance. Even if the result did not end with a spot on the podium we need to learn from this race to translate it into physical or mental training improvements for the next race!
Part of the Race Results page is the ability to review your race and record the review to help you integrate it into your future training plan by asking these there questions:
- What did I do well?
- What needs to improve?
- What changes do I need to make to become my best?
