Chicken or the Egg?

What do runners do when they are running for miles and miles and endless hours?  They think about stuff...  some of it meaningful, some of it not.  One of the things that has "run" through my mind is whether the ability to race long distances successfully is primarily due to inherited personality traits, or whether it is a skill that is learned and honed as the miles and the years add up.

When coaches are seeking athletes to recruit for their teams or programs, they recognize that physical ability alone is not enough for an athlete to excel in their sport.  So what other traits or qualities do they look for?  Most coaches look for an individual that displays mental toughness.  Wikipedia defines mental toughness as a collection of attributes that allow a person to persevere through difficult circumstances (such as difficult training or difficult competitive situations in games) and emerge without losing confidence.

Sport Psychologist, Dr. Tom Fawcett has worked with many World Class and Olympic athletes and offers interesting insight into the mental make up and development of such athletes.  Through his experience in working with these athletes, Fawcett has concluded that the exposure of an athlete to certain environments and adverse circumstances (both in and outside their sporting careers) as they grow up is crucial for their development of mental toughness. He states that, "Failure should be perceived as a strength in that it defines limitations and identifies criteria for personal improvement.
Therefore in the mentally tough athlete, there is no such thing as failure, only feedback." He even speculates that young athletes should be exposed to a certain amount of failure to effectively toughen them up.

Furthermore, Fawcett identifies perfectionism as a barrier to mental toughness. Did you read the blog a couple of weeks ago? He suggests that perfection doesn’t exist and athletes should therefore always “strive for excellence”. He claims that being a perfectionist will ruin a potential world champion.

Fawcett allows that although some aspects of mental toughness occur naturally, many of the attributes of this crucial element of a successful athlete are developed through their experiences and exposure to certain environments. He, therefore, reasons that “it is not what happens to the athlete, it is how they deal with what happens to them” and he believes that the key to mental toughness is to “deal with both success and failure effectively, and to learn and continually strive to move forward to bigger and better things”.

So what does this mean to you as one of our Warriors? Everyone, from world class athletes to Metabolic Warriors will experience setbacks, but it is how we react to those setbacks that will determine whether we move forward or give up. The challenges we face in our personal lives and the challenges we face as we try to stay on track with our fitness to achieve our goals are inevitable. At times there will be progress, and at times there will be plateaus, or even a step or two backwards. In the long term , though, it is how we react to those setbacks that will determine our success. A world class, mentally tough athlete has a high sense of self belief and an unshakable faith that they are in control of their ability to succeed. Even though our goals as Warriors are perhaps less lofty than winning an Olympic gold medal, the same mental toughness can ensure that we continue making progress toward those goals.

While I do tend to believe that part of our ability to display mental toughness is perhaps a genetic trait of our personality, I also have personal experience through my own running and athletes I have coached, that mental toughness can be developed and honed.

One of our Warriors has shared with us one of the benefits that he has experienced from participating in Metabolic Training for three and a half years. He has told us that whenever he faces a life challenge, his motto or attitude is "Warrior Tough!". We see incredible strength in our Warriors, both in our trainings, and in seeing how you deal with very difficult life situations and your mental toughness inspires us! Remember, it's not how many times you fall down, but how many times you get up.