Tag: mental

Posted on

Manning Park, Coast Outdoor Sports, and Guardian Angels

My mother passed away 2 weeks ago. I’m not using this post to eulogize her, or talk about it much at all, except you need to know 2 things to understand this story:

  1. She was a great cross-country skier, and it’s something we did as a family very much when I was growing up.
  2. I had been looking forward to skiing that day, and feeling closer to her in spirit while doing it. I would have been closer to my father in spirit too.

I had recently ordered new Combi (i.e. hybrids that can accommodate both classic and skate ski styles) boots from Salomon, and I was looking forward to breaking them in that day. The plan was: go to church, then onto Manning Park – the kids would downhill ski together, while my wife and I would go cross-country skiing.

I don’t think I had my head screwed on straight that day. First, I missed the exit on the way to church, and taking the next one would have made us very late, so we decided to use the extra time to ski. Honestly, that’s probably how my mother would have wanted it. Upon arriving at the hill, we discovered that the Lightning Kid had forgotten his jacket, but so had I (even though I could swear I remembered throwing it in the trunk). My jacket also had my gloves in it. We managed to rent jackets from Manning – how cool is that? – and I bought mitts, so the kids took off and my wife and I headed back to the nearest cross-country trail head.

That was when I discovered I hadn’t packed my ski poles; if you’re keeping score, that’s jacket, gloves and poles forgotten so far. I thought I was a good enough skier to be able to skate without poles. I was able to get my right boot into the binding, but not the left. I told my wife to ski without me, because the only think worse than dealing with a frustrating situation is to do it with someone watching over your shoulder. I brought everything into the warming hut and it seemed like brute force could make it work, but I should have known something was off.

I went back outside to try and get the skis on, when someone skied up and asked if I had bought the boots and skis together. I explained the skis were from a ski swap, while the boots were brand new. It turned out the man was the manager of Coast Outdoors and that the bindings on the skis were SNS while my boots were the ProLink system. I was kicking myself for not checking on that beforehand, but they do look very similar, and apparently, it’s near impossible to get SNS equipment anymore. Thus since my boots needed to be upgraded, it would be time to upgrade the bindings not only on these skate skis but my classics also.

I was ready to give up on my day of skiing and being with my mother. While the failures of the day were my fault, somehow, I thought maybe the stars could align to make it happen despite them. That’s when Bram (who just happened to be the same height as me) offered to let me take his skis for a quick spin. I’d just do the small loop I knew my wife was on and try to catch up with her – right after falling onto my butt (his skis were very fast due to being waxed and maintained better than any other skis I’d owned). I broke a good sweat hustling my skate stride until I caught up to my wife. The entire time, I thought about my Mom, I thought about my Dad, I even thought about my Uncle Siegi who had passed away while skiing many years ago.

I guess I learned two things that day:

  1. Coast Outdoors is the place to go for your cross-country skiing (and paddling and snowshoeing needs). I’ll be going there for my new bindings and more.
  2. There may be someone watching over you.
Posted on

Guest Post: 3 Ways To Better Manage Sports Pain

Disclaimer: this post is sponsored content.

As an endurance athlete, you need to learn to manage pain. Pain is a normal part in the lives of people, who love sports.

However, as an athlete you need to practice the saying “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.” This is the primary reason why endurance athletes last long compared with other people who can’t even run a mile. Experts believe that it’s their ability to cope with pain, physically and psychologically.

So why do athletes have better tolerance for pain? A research by the University of Heidelberg in Germany found that athletes stand pain better than non-athletes. The researchers believed that it’s their commitment to regular physical activity that improved their ability to bear pain.

The study found that athletes can deal with chronic pain better. They can stand pain for longer duration because their training has helped them to develop the coping skills they need.

Athletes are often exposed in intense psychological and physical pain, especially before and during the competitions. They deal with pain better than the non-athletes because they know how to apply the pain coping mechanisms that would help them win in the competitions.

Aside from exercise to alleviate pain, the researchers are looking into the power of meditation. Later on, this may help people struggling with chronic pain.

Whether you are an athlete or not, practice these mental strategies that can help you bear pain better:

  • Do the self-talk.

“Mind over matter.” When you tell your brain to focus on the pain, you will surely stop during the game. The best way to fight the pain, especially when you feel that you want to give up in the middle of the competition is to use the rhythmic cognitive behavior. It’s easy to apply this because you just have to say a certain mantra or word that applies to you. For instance, you can say “power,” “fast,” “calm” repeatedly to encourage yourself to go on than to focus on the pain. You can also count from 1 to 10 and begin it again after every step, stride or ride you do. It’s one easy way to divert your mind from telling you that you need to stop because of the pain.

  • Believe that pain will pass.

When the pain starts to consume you during the competition or trainings, your emotions may begin to surface. Those emotions are sending messages telling you to either ask for help, slow down or you need to drink. Don’t ignore those emotions and try to understand what the important message it is telling you. The fastest way to manage this difficult emotion at the height of a competition is to stop your movements. During this time, you need to calm yourself to put an end to this emotion. You need to say a powerful mantra to remind yourself that you are in control of everything. Convince yourself that the pain is just temporary and it will not last.

  • Accept what’s there.

What you’re expecting on the day of your training or competition has something to do with how you will perceive pain. When you begin to think that you can handle the pain that you may be experiencing later during the race will change how you will handle it.

What you feed your brain is what you’re going to believe in. For instance, you will think that “It was the slippery road that caused my injury.” As an endurance athlete, it will help you if you will begin to have less expectations. You should be ready for whatever will happen later and believe that you can handle anything, even facing pain.

 

Frances Hamilton loves writing about developing mental skills as a way to enhance the physical strength. She is a devoted Christian, swimmer and speaker as well as resident counsellor at rehabcenters.com.