Attitude for the athlete in you

Running Journal Entry: Sunday, Sept 16, 2007. Training for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon.

Long Run- 19 miles in 2:27:20 (7:45 pace). Ran 2 9.5 mile loops on the Charles River. Started off easy running 8:30 miles, then ran Tempo from mile 8-13 (7 minute mile pace). Felt awesome on the tempo, ran strong. I was Zonin, floating, pumped. Hit mile 17 and face first into the wall! Started to break down, posture was bad, form went out the window on the last 2 miles. Fought hard and finished the run.

One of the keys to running a successful marathon is varying your pace during your long runs. This allows your muscles to get used to the stress of running fast when you are deep into a race. This particular journal entry shows how I ran at different tempo’s during this long run and shows how my body felt during different parts of the run. A couple weeks before this long training run I came up with a new adjective to describe one of my specific running mindsets, I called it Zonin. I likened this word to being in “The Zone”. I happened to use it in this entry and I want to give you the definition I wrote at the time I came up with it.

Zonin- The state of mind where my body is free of all feeling, straight up on cruise control. I feel like I am out of my body and in a ridiculous place. This usually happens when I think of something amazing. The key to Zonin is to be fully aware and enjoy every aspect of the journey.

My definition of Zonin sums up what it means to me to be mindful during athletic competition. Finding that mental state where everything is in flow around you and your body reacts effortlessly. Your mind no longer thinks about how to move your muscles or perform skills. Things like fear, doubt and worry are gone. There are a lot of factors that go into Zonin but I believe the answer lies in focus and concentration. During miles 8-13 of my run I focused my mind to run at race tempo and blocked out everything else. I really wanted to run a good, strong tempo for 5 miles and before I knew it I was done with the tempo. It felt like time and space disappeared. I was happy when I finished the tempo and that excitement carried me a couple more miles. The only thing I had left to do was get to mile 19. So naturally the intense focus and concentration I had during the tempo began to crack and over time my body began to break down. Sure I was physically tired but the lack of focus meant that I was mentally tired as well. That lack of focus ultimately caused the breakdown later in my run.

Being mindful, in “The Zone” or Zonin is a state that I don’t reach every time I run or train but it is something I continually try to achieve. It takes a lot of work to train your mind to keep focused over the course of an entire game or race. The key is to start small and progress from there. Practice focusing for 10 minutes, then 15 or 1 mile, then 2 miles and so on. Focusing your mind is a skill that you can learn and you can also practice to get better. Athletes that are mentally strong know how to focus and concentrate regardless of what the situation is. And those athletes are usually the most successful at what they do.

by Joe Villapiano

Joe is an assistant football coach at Harvard University. He has his masters in teaching from UCONN.