Using sports psychology to improve cycling: lesson 1 results B: three activities

Hiking with Hanna / Photo: K. Hudson

In working with Dr. Dana Blackmer of The Extra Gear to use sports psychology to improve my cycling, I was tasked with two assignments. The first was to list ten physical activities which sound interesting to me; things to which I might be able to form an emotional connection. The second was to try three different physical activities, other than cycling.

The Analogy: Dana gave me a very interesting analogy along with my assignment. He asked if I remembered the time before I got married when I dated other people just for fun. When you are young and not yet interested in marriage, Dana pointed out, most people date in order to meet new people and try new things. He said I needed to adopt this same attitude of exploration for my assignment as I tried three new physical activities. Experiment with the intention of seeing how it feels and what I connect with. Enjoy the process.

Three Activities: I picked three activities which seemed reasonable yet challenging for me.
• Hiking in foothills – I felt guilty because I had other things to do; I hike periodically and generally enjoy it. But I was trying to pay attention to my emotions and was a little surprised at how much I resented the activity since I felt like I had other, more important thing to do. Insight: Am I not allowing my health and/or enjoyment to be a priority?
• Bowling – I used to be an avid bowler; I forgot how much I loved this! I smiled for hours afterwards. I could see setting goals and going to the gym to improve my game. I left my name at the alley for the league coordinator to call me about joining. Only problem, my right elbow is slightly swollen and rather painful. Not sure what’s going on but am hoping it’s just sore from motion it’s not used to. I was going to go bowling again but decided to let the elbow rest.
• Jogging – I used to jog for stress relief and weight management (health) over ten years ago; never loved it; still don’t. This activity was okay but somewhat physically uncomfortable and not well planned. I brought the dogs and was distracted by what they were doing (but I can’t imagine going out for a run without them!). It didn’t hurt my knees as much as I expected but then again I didn’t go very far. I noticed lots of negative self-talk about how slow I was going and how uncomfortable my body was. I think I should give this one another try without the dogs (yikes! can I do it?).

I checked Dana’s website and found a great article about the perception of pain. He says that pain can lead to negative thoughts which impedes training. That makes sense for me. Dana recommended changing my negative thoughts to something more positive like “Keep pushing, this is where my training pays off”. I’m going to try this when I go jogging again.

Let me know how you’re doing with your first week. Karolyn.Hudson@gmail.com