Shit happens. I was reminded of this on the weekend when I was driving home from the National Team Trials on the 1996 Olympic course in Gainesville, Ga. My drive was going well - I was making great time, wasn’t getting sleepy, as usual was getting incredible mileage in my VW Golf TDI wagon and had found lots of engaging stuff on the satellite radio. I was running over plans for Monday in my mind: breakfast at home, take the dogs to the dog park, have a nice nap, then put my board in the water and go for an easy paddle on my home waters.
Suddenly, at about 6 a.m., things started
to go wrong. My car lost power and was
limping along, not responding to any pressure on the gas pedal. The check engine light came on and the glow
plug light started flashing. I consulted
the manual. I was in “limp mode”,
designed to help you get to a service center while keeping engine revs low so
as not to damage the engine. I limped
along for a short while, staying in the right lane on the interstate going
downhill and on the shoulder with flashers on going uphill, trying to get to a
VW service center. A short time later my
car lost all power and I found myself on the side of 1-79, about 25 km south of
Erie, Pa.
The rest is a bit of a blur. I called roadside assistance and they arranged
a tow to a dealer in Erie. I checked in
with the service department and then sat around waiting for Chris Lightboud to
come down to Erie to pick up me, my board and all the junk in my car. What a
great friend to do that. I looked through
the various VW and TDI forums on the Internet.
It’s a lot like checking Web MD to see what medical condition the
symptoms you’re suffering from might indicate.
It makes your mind race. I was
bummed. My plans for the day were shot
and now I was facing the uncertainty of not having my car and dealing with the
repairs. Would VW honor the
warranty? Was it a mechanical failure or
did the last station I filled up at in Fort Chiswell, Va have contaminated
diesel? The service department at the
dealer was short staffed and wasn’t going to be able to look at the car for a
few days. There was lots of uncertainty
and lots I could get stressed about.
Chris eventually arrived to pick me up, we
got my board and all my stuff loaded up and headed home. We talked about the Carolina Cup, the Trials
and whatever else came to mind and before I knew it the 2 ½ hour trip was over
and I was home. It was 4:30 pm and I got
my quality dog time in, got to relax a little and had a nice dinner. And I made sure I got any signs of frustration
and stress under control.
One thing I learned as a National Team
paddler back in the early ‘80s is that there’s no point in worrying about
things beyond your control. When we were
travelling all over Europe, and all over the old Communist East Bloc, things
always seemed to crop up that ruined, or at least changed, our plans. Hours spent waiting in customs, showing up to
train before a regatta and not having boats for a couple of days, horrible
food, drunk Russian coaches making noise all night in the room next to yours
through paper thing walls, etc. All of
these are examples of things that can conspire to affect your performance. They
certainly are not ideal scenarios to deal with while you’re preparing to race
at a World Cup the next morning or in a few days.
Interestingly enough, however, I learned
through experience that these types of things only seemed to affect me as much
as I let them. I discovered if I just
shut my mind off and didn’t worry about things that were far beyond my control,
the actual impact of any of these things was minimal and even
non-existent. I had some great races
under some trying circumstances. I
observed other members of the team or other athletes from other countries deal
with similar circumstances. There was a
pattern. Those that got stressed about
things beyond their control – anything from noisy neighbors in the hotel to
unfair winds on the course – tended to race poorly. Those that seemed unaffected by these
external things tended to race really well.
Sure, unfair conditions might affect their performance, but they always
seemed to do far better in them than anyone expected they would.
It’s pretty clear. A certain amount of stress helps you perform
better. Too much impacts your performance
negatively. You’ll find lots of books in
the self help section that describe how stress affects performance and offer
suggestions on how to deal with that stress.
Moreover you’ll also find lots of information on how stress affects your
health. It’s not good.
Letting stressors just roll off you like
water off a duck’s back is easier said than done. It’s not easy, and some things that stress
you are a lot harder to ignore than others.
But in general, most of the things that stress us probably shouldn’t. It’s worth asking yourself, “What can I do to
change the situation?” If the answer is
nothing, that the situation is totally beyond your control, why are you worried
about it? Can you do anything when your
flight is delayed? Sure, it’s a pain in
the ass and means you’ll likely miss your connection, but is it the end of the
world? You’ll find you’ll feel a lot
better if you just let it go and go with the flow rather than get mad or
worried about it. And if you’re on your
way to a race, I guarantee you’ll have a lot more energy for your race when you
finally get there if you just shut your brain off and go with the flow.
Why do we worry about the race conditions
if we can’t control them? All we can do
is our best. Even if the conditions are
really challenging for you, you’ll do a lot better if you don’t worry about
them and just do your best. You’ll be
more relaxed and alert and able to respond more quickly and decisively when you
need to. If you’re worried and stressed
you’ll be tight and you’ll struggle.
I’ve seen athletes literally paralyzed by stress when they’re
racing. Their races turn into disasters
that really were avoidable if they’d just managed to deal with their stress
levels more effectively.
Everyone has their own way of keeping things in perspective and dealing with stress. We’re all different so you have to find a way that works for you. However one principle is going to be useful for everybody – don’t waste your time and energy worrying about things you have no control over. What’s going to happen is going to happen. Accept it. Stay calm, relaxed and confident. Don’t let it ruin your day. What’s the worst thing that can happen? The situation you’re dealing with is likely so far from that it’s insignificant in comparison. If you can manage to become better at this I’m certain you’ll find your race weekends will be more fun and your performances better. You’ll probably also be healthier in the long run as well.
I have no idea what is going to happen with
my car. Apparently it was in the shop
today but I still haven’t heard what the problem is. I have no idea whether it is a minor or major
repair and whether it will be covered by warranty or not. It’s all complicated by the fact that I leave
for Europe on Sunday, and there is a very real chance that repairs won’t be
finished by then. It’s a hassle, but it
could be worse. I’m not letting it ruin
my day. When I find out what the problem
is I’ll deal with it. It’s beyond my
control. Why worry about it now?
