In the last newsletter prior to the 2012 Spec-Savers Ironman I return to a topic that is a golden tread throughout all my articles – mental toughness. Bill Toomey (gold medallist in the decathlon at the 1968 Olympic) defines mental toughness as the ability to thrive on pain and adversity. In other words, “when it starts to hurt, you start to win”, because, according to Toomey, it is the conversion of stumbling blocks into stepping stones that truly sets the champion apart from the rest of society.
Ironman South Africa is fast approaching. I am sure you are all challenging your bodies in an attempt to ensure that you arrive on the morning of 22 April 2012 in peak physical condition. Ironman is not just physically a challenging day; it is also mentally a tough day. It therefore important to also pay attention to your mental preparation.
Ironman’s motto is “Anything is possible”. Most of us who do Ironman know this to be true, but most of us have reached a place in our training and/or on race day, that it is difficult to believe that anything is possible. As we take off our race numbers after competing in the half and we start to prepare for the full, it is a good time to remind ourselves of the Ironman motto.
OVERCOMING DESPAIR
Paddy Cloete (Psychologist and Ironman)
paddycloete@mweb.co.za
082 413 6649; (041) 581 1318
Paul Huddle, a well respected triathlon coach who also competed as a top level pro for 11 years, once said, that he “came to the...
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