Play To Win

In a discussion with Amber last night my notion of “If I’m going to do _____, I’m going to win!”  As an example when I headed out to do my very first race last summer I went with the mindset that I was going to win.  Was it realistic to think that I would actually win my first race ever?  Even when it was 10K and I had only run that distance maybe two times before the race?

Of course not.

But my thinking at that point was, why enter a race and then go without the intent to make the attempt to win?!  Fast forward a year to the Warrior Dash or Run For Your Lives, I went to each of those with the intent to win, and placed really well in the Dash and was second in the zombie run. I went with the intent to win, and I nearly did.  I mena no one goes to the Olympics and dreams about placing 7th.  That might be their best result ever and they are ecstatic about it when it’s all said and done, but you dream about being 1st!

However, during that whole discussion came the awareness of my beginning mentality which was the ‘first switch’.  “I’ll just do a little more.”  This was a common thing on the elliptical.  I’d go to the gym with the intent of doing X amount of time on the machine, I’d reach that goal, but the calories burned would be close to another round 100 number, so I’d just do a little more and reach that number.  Another day I’d get to that round number and the just do a little more to be at a new higher amount of time.  It built like that for quite a while.

I’ve seen this change in Amber, with her swimming in particular.  It makes me excited about the future of her fitness.  Mindset is changing and that more than anything else is what is important.  If you approach fitness with a “I’ll just do like a 75% effort” or “I can’t give 100% but I’ll see what I can do” it’s not going to work out for you.  There is a reason that there is a phrase “Push yourself!”  And that is because even when you don’t feel like it sometimes, you’ve got to put in what you’ve got to push forward!

If you’re in it, you’re in it to win it!