Building focus
August 30, 2006I’ve mentioned before how this marathon training guide that I’m reading emphasizes the mental aspects of running. I’m only half-way thru the book (reading one week ahead as I progress thru the program) but so far I’d guess over half of it has been about the mental preparations, the rest about the physical preperations, for running a marathon.
According to the book, starting this week I need to focus on, well, focus. Building concentration, being able to really zone out everything else and just focus on the run. The goal is to try and get you into that “flow” atheletes often talk about. Like sometimes a pro tennis player talks about how the ball looked gigantic, as if they couldn’t miss when they hit it.
On of the focus training techniques they mention is having a grid of 100 numbers in random order, you have to cross out the numbers in the correct order. And of course time yourself and try to get faster every time. I found one on the Web, actually built by somebody who was reading the same exact book I am. But I wanted something a bit simpler, their version lets you pick how big a grid while I really just want the 10 x 10 grid. So I stole, I mean, I learned from their code and built my own concentration game.
So far my times have not been very impressive. I’m hoping to get under 5 minutes.