Always Finish Strong
Mantra. We’ve heard the word. We’ve all heard of the mantra “Om”. Ommmmmmmm. A spoken mantra, or a silent mantra, is frequently used as an aid to meditation, focusing your attention.
Mantras are also useful when you’re out on the road or up on one of the Keiser M3s.
One phrase I hear every now and then at Global Ride is “Always Finish Strong“. Dig deep, and Finish Strong. For whatever reason, that phrase resonates with me.
You’re in minute 18 of a 20 minute power threshold test. Your heart rate is edging close to Zone 5. Only 2 minutes left. Dig deep, and Finish Strong.
You’re wrapping up an outdoor workshop. You’re almost to the top of Edgecliff (what a name for a road. what a hill!), with your chest about to explode, but Gino is riding next to you saying “There’s always a little left in the tank. Finish Strong.”
You’re doing Yoga and Kelly decides we’re going to do a sequence of Sun Salutations. The arms are screaming, but we’re almost done. Finish Strong.
You’re at King’s, and there’s an Angry Mob dessert in front of you. Finish… er, you probably don’t want to finish that one.
I’ve talked about a lot of stuff that I’ve learned during my first five months at Global Ride:
* Show up, and then keep coming back
* Be in touch with your heart
* Pay attention to your power
* Combine the indoor and the outdoor. Combine the heart and the watt.
But all that work and application of technology has to be for some reason. It can’t exist in a vacuum, otherwise you get bored and move on to the next shiny thing. These are tools that exist for a reason. It’s like collecting hammers, but never nailing anything.
Having a goal, a goal that is out of your immediate reach, is a great motivator. It gives a direction to your activity. I want to ride a MS 150. I want to lose 40 pounds. I want to climb Edgecliff. Using these tools will get you to the goal. It won’t happen immediately, it’ll take work, but you will get there. The last bit is always hard. So you have to dig deep, and Finish Strong.
And then when you Finish, it’s time to smile and take pride in your work. Then pick the next Goal. We wouldn’t want life to get boring.
