A beginner’s mind

One of my biggest downfalls when it comes to triathlon (and before that swimming) is the expectations I place on myself.  If I look back across all of my athletic career my best performances happened when I expected nothing, and usually when I least expected.  Of course I have had many great performances when I expected it (i.e. when I was rested), but more often then not great performances usually come when I’m not looking for them.

I’ve always explained this to other people as me grasping to hard – I try, and try and reach for what I’m wanting and liked a greased watermelon away it goes.

Despite my best attempts I do occasionally fall into the habit of setting expectations and really focusing on an outcome – rather then focusing on doing my best.  The concept of a Beginners Mind really helps me in this arena.  It’s a good reminder that biases and expectations can hold us back from experiencing awesome things!

Update on last week’s training later.