I was up in Manchester at the weekend as England Team leader for the Home Countries Combined Events International.
The competition was held on what was the warm up track at the 2002 Commonwealth Games (where I did my last heptathlon) stirred up a few memories especially when Man City kicked off on Saturday afternoon in what was the Games main stadium overlooking the warm up track.
One of my athletes who had not made the England team was also competing. He had had two goals for the weekend.
1. To beat his best decathlon score.
2. To beat the guys that were in the England team.
As with all combined events competitions it was a bit of a roller coaster. You have some events that go really well, and some that are not so good.
It is very hard to get all 10 events perfect in the decathlon.
This does make it very challenging psychologically. You have to be mentally prepared for it not going to plan. You have to be strong and let it go when things go wrong, then re-focus and give it everything in the next event.
It is very easy to get down after a bad event and think that you have thrown it all away & there is no point continuing and then take that negativity into the next event.
My athlete had disasters in 2 of his strongest events, high jump & pole vault.
He was too focused on the result he wanted rather than on what he needed to do to get the result. He skipped heights and then failed at heights that are usually easy for him.
After each of these disaster events he came back with personal or seasons best performances and finished the competition with a huge personal best performance in the 1500m to win the decathlon, beating all of the International competitors and smashing his best decathlon score.
Mission accomplished.
Following a diet and exercise programmes is much like doing a decathlon.
– You need to have some goals that you want to achieve.
– It is often a roller coaster of successes and failures.
– You need to be prepared for when things do not go to plan and you fall off the wagon.
– You need to stay mentally strong when you do not achieve the results you were expecting at each stage of the programme.
– You must not give up, but re-focus and keep going to the end.
– You must focus on the process, carry out each step to the letter and do not skip the bits that you do not think are important.
Having a coach to support, motivate and guide you makes the whole process a lot easier.
Our next Body Transformation programmes are not for everyone but they are for those who are prepared to commit to a plan, work hard and get the results that they want.
Click the link below to find out more & to apply for a place
http://combinedfitness.co.uk/services-body-transformation-programme/
