Monday, April 15, 2019

Journey to Kona Day 69: Staying Focused

Watching Tiger Woods win was a reminder of staying focused.  You could see it in his eyes all day.  Things didn't always go right, but the focus was always there.  Right now, with my fairly constant rib pain, I need to remember that as well.  At the same time, I've got to be smart.  Pushing to hard to soon will just set me back, and I've done my share of that over the last couple of weeks with our move and my tendency to pick up a box or two.  Focus doesn't have to mean exercise or movement.  It's an opportunity to practice meditation.  I haven't really thought about that.  My "downtime," that I'm essentially having right now should be an opportunity to enhance my mental abilities, my mental toughness, rather than allowing myself to wallow in the sorrow of being unable to run, bike or swim.

One of the interesting thing about Tiger's return is that the mental aspect was always one of his strengths, but you could see that he'd lost sight of it at some point.  Well, today he got it back.  It was there in every stroke and in every step.  Despite the human body's knack for getting it wrong every now and then, the mind stayed focused and clear and got things immediately back on track. There was no time for elation, no time for anger, no time for disappointment.  There was just time for focus.  As always, it reminds me of the feeling I had during the swim at St. George in 2012.  It reminds me of how I feel during a "successful" ironman. I'm able to stay focused, which means staying in the moment and never letting doubt get in the way. That will be my watchword for the coming week, staying focused.

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