A few months ago, journalist and cyclist Jon Marcus called to ask my thoughts about the psychology of hill climbing. He and his riding buddies had been wondering about why certain hills were more difficult than others. His short article appears in the current issue of Bicycling magazine (May 2013). You can click on the image to read the piece.
Focus on Now
“The best competitors stay in the moment,” Swoap says. “They’re not thinking How am I going to make it to the top? Instead they focus on immediate concerns like, What cadence do I want right now? How is my breathing? Are my shoulders relaxed?”
Getting to the top of a steep hill requires a combination of endurance, power, and strategy. The latter includes cultivating a Be-Here-Now mindset that allows you to stay in the present. But this is much easier said than done. It necessitates training your mind as much as your body. For example, take a look at this elevation chart from the annual race, Assault on Mt. Mitchell, held in May near my home.
This is a challenging event, to say the least. If you’re new to the race and you look at this graphic, you may rightly experience some nerves! It’s gonna be tough! The riders approach the mountains after a steady climb from South Carolina. Upon reaching Marion, N.C., they start the steep ascent to Mt. Mitchell. Obviously, fitness gained from many hours of training is a must. What should be obvious, but often is not, is that many hours of mental training are also a must. Being mentally tough is often thought of as a character trait. I see it more as the outcome of specific behaviors and habits, practiced regularly during training sessions. From the Bicycling article, here are five to work on:
1. Set aside fear. Difficult climbs should be respected, but not feared. Fear and worry are future-oriented and take you away from the here-and-now task at hand.
2. Think positively. As I wrote about in my earlier post on psychological resilience, having cognitive control takes practice. Work on keeping your thoughts focused and positive during long, hard training sessions. (Ever notice that the instant “I can’t” is uttered — whether aloud or silently — your muscles seem to lose all power?)
3. Focus on now. Stay in the moment. “What cadence do I want right now? How is my breathing? Are my shoulders relaxed?”
4. Divide and conquer. Break the race into manageable segments. (Kind of like my upcoming summer road trip from Asheville to the Adirondacks with my three kids.) You can always ride to the next tree.
5. Look down. Kevin Dessart of USA Cycling suggests that instead of focusing on the top of the hill, “direct your gaze toward the shortest safe distance ahead of your front wheel,” giving you an illusion of pedaling on flatter terrain.
Keep track of your mental training, just as you would log your miles or hours practiced. Record when you’re successful with your thoughts and attitude, and how that translates to your performance.
Just ask Adam Scott, who won the Masters yesterday, in a sudden-death playoff with Ángel Cabrera.
Scott sank a great birdie putt on #18 to set up the playoff (but only after Cabrera hit an equally thrilling approach shot there). Then, on the second playoff hole, Scott calmly knocked in another putt to win the green jacket. “You think of all of the great players that came before you, who have their fingerprints on your career,” Jim Nantz said. “Did you feel their presence here?”
“Well, absolutely,” Scott replied. “[But today] I tried not to think about anything along those lines. The thing I did well out there was just stay right where I was, wherever it was on the golf course. I stayed in that one shot.”
It would not have been helpful for Scott to have been thinking about winning for Australia or trying to play for Greg Norman or anyone else. He just hit each shot, each chip, each putt… one by one. That’s how you get to the top of the hill during championship Sunday at the Masters.