WHAT I’VE LEARNED
What I have learned by participating in this cycling challenge is that one must have the right mindset. One can’t go from a state of unfitness today and be ready to do one hundred kilometres tomorrow. Ultimatley, my mind was set on completing the 94.7, but before doing this race, I had to take small steps and practise having a positive mindset every day that built up to the race day. I stayed focused on each day’s training and I knew once it was completed, it was another building block set in place to reach the main goal.
Being positive during difficult times in training is challenging, but it should never steal your focus. To encourage yourself is difficult, but very necessary. When you’re on the road all by yourself in the middle of nowhere, you need the mentality to motivate yourself to push through.
Dedication should be part of your foundation when you want to achieve a goal. You need to know what you need to do to reach what you set out to do. Know how much time and effort it will ask from you, and be ready to commit. When you plan, don’t only keep your eye on the major goal, but focus on the smaller plans as well.
I needed to focus on completing a forty, sixty and eighty kilometres before I could do the ninety-five kilometres.
When you train, keep your focus on it. I’ve learned that as soon as I started thinking about something else, big or small, my focus was divided and I tended to struggle more and then both the training and the focus were neglected.
By Deon Labuschagne
