Today I learned that Doctor Bob is pretty damn smart.
The Doctor Bob I am referring to is Dr. Bob Rotella, author of the book “Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect”. Now I know what you are thinking – why is he referring to a golf book? Well, this book has many concepts which benefit athletes of all sports. The one I am thinking of in this instance is the concept of “train it and trust it”. First the athlete completes the level a level of practice that provides him / her with the skills to be successful in the designated sport. Then, when it’s game time, he/she simply must put his/her faith in the fact that they did the required work needed to grasp a victory.
In short: break your ass practicing, and then let the chips fall as they may on game day.
Well, tomorrow (Sunday, July 14th) is the 13th Annual New York City Triathlon. A 1 mile swim, a 25 mile bike, and then a 6.2 mile run. I’m about to be thrown into unchartered waters, and I don’t feel like I trained myself nearly well enough to trust my ability to get through this event.
Train it – and then trust it. If you can do that, then you’ll get a good night’s sleep prior to a race. If you don’t….well….you wind up like me, staring at the walls at 1am, needing to get my day started in 2 hours.
Yikes.
