Pressure

You can pick the song of your choice for this one. Is that redundant? If you pick, then choice is implied, right? I'm not really sure, but half a paragraph in we already have an "I'm" and some "it" subjects. It's early.

During the tour this year, once again we heard a lot about the weight of the leader's jersey. During Armstrong's seven year reign as Tour champion, the maillot jaune did not appear to be so heavy, but there wasn't too much "normal" about the entire period of LA dominance. The leader of Postal/Discovery seemed to thrive under the pressure and spotlight.

For the rest of us though, pressure comes in different ways, from different directions, with different effects. Pressure can manifest itself as hours or days of anxiety leading up to a big event, as a fleeting second of success or failure at the crucial instant during a sprint finish, or as thousands of other possible scenarios in between. Maybe pressure is your motivator, or maybe it's your downfall. But it's there.

We have already heard that Landis forgot to eat and bonked terribly during stage 16, and in fact he was not wearing the leader's jersey at the time. However, just a minute or two down, he was the odds on favorite to win the Tour, and the pressure was certainly on when he wilted during the climb to La Toussuire. Now you could argue that the pressure on him was greater on the next day, but being written off at ten minutes down, I think he had nothing to lose and much less pressure when he bid farewell to the other contenders and went on to have the ride of his life, rivaling the rides of everyone elses lives too. Coincidence? I don't think so.

The support of a team in the quest for cycling glory is something we all dream about, but with that support also comes pressure. Could you handle it? Sure, sharing success is not too difficult, but should you fail, the leader must take the fall, even if the team support was not all that it might be. On the other side, if we're in the support role, if we're not careful to avoid applying to much pressure on our leader, we aren't being so supportive after all.

Maybe you don't even have a team. Maybe you compete as an individual. That doesn't mean you don't have pressure. You might be your own source of pressure. Pressure to meet training goals, pressure to achieve race results, pressure to become something. I read several athlete's blogs. One theme in their writings, usually underlying, is that their public statements of athletic goals and intents puts a pressure on these bloggers to live up to their blogs. I know I've mentioned this before, but the Landis performance, my WMSR experience, and the blogger factors make me feel this is worth revisiting. Spelling out your goals and dreams may provide the motivation some of us need to persist with training, which is good. For others, it can be bad.

At work, as when I was back in school, I often do my best work when under the pressure of tight deadlines. My focus gets better and I boil down the problems and produce solutions. In racing and training though, I don't seem to enjoy pressure so much. We hear a lot about how pressure can be a problem in youth sports. In adult sports, the pressure may be more internal than external, but it's there, and some athletes lose out because of it. Lose out on fun, lose out on results, and in the case of those who push on while injured, lose out on health. Managing pressure and motivating forces will help you achieve your goals, but more importantly help keep you healthy and happy, and more fun to be with for the others in your life. Remembering why you participate in athletics in the first place is a good first step to take for managing pressure. If it's not fun, why do it? Thanks for reading.