Geoff had come to our house early so we could go out for a training ride on our racers.
Geoff has cycled from Lands end to John O'Groats (another future goal for myself!) so I was looking forward to getting out on the 'treader's' with him. Another thing I was really looking forward to was using my Polar S725 heart rate monitor that I had only got back that morning (The batteries had been replaced).
This made the ride, a ride of relief, as I could actually relate my perception of effort, from previous rides, to the actual level (specific heart rate) of the ride itself.
I am really pleased with the results because even without the heart rate monitor on I have been riding in the correct HR (heart rate) zones. I will explain about hr zones another time.
So, there is no more riding blind and from now on I can ride with a lot more precision.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Goals and a Clear mind
I went to a family Halloween party on Saturday night, at my parents house and it was great fun.
We had invited our friends from Oxford, Geoff and Jo Goddard and their daughter Frayer.
I meet Geoff 14 years ago as an agent who would take care of my race entries and we became very good friends.
As we got to know each other Geoff had read a book call 'Unlimited Power' by Anthony Robbins. This book was my first insight into psychology, I was aware that racing was not just about the bike and there was alot to do with the mind. Unaware of any mental techniques, this book, to me, was very fascinating and would be the starting point in my interest in psychology.
As I have mentioned below, I have very clear pictures in my mind (internal representations) of how my future will be and I know that in three years time (December 2009) I will qualify to be a sports psychologist.
As you read this now, I am very excited and I am looking forward to this time in my life, even though, I will need to go through the process of achieving my dream first.
The great thing is, regardless of winning, I still have many things to look forward to when this time is up.
When I decided to finish racing in 2004 I felt like a broken man with nothing to live for.
Having goals and a clear mind is very fulfilling.
To set goals, I have used an anagram. SMARTER. Each letter is the start of a word and each word is what you need to consider when setting effective goals.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Achievable
R = Reasons
T = Timed
E = Empowering
R = Review and Reward
This is what I consider as training to be world champion and I still have done no riding!!!
We had invited our friends from Oxford, Geoff and Jo Goddard and their daughter Frayer.
I meet Geoff 14 years ago as an agent who would take care of my race entries and we became very good friends.
As we got to know each other Geoff had read a book call 'Unlimited Power' by Anthony Robbins. This book was my first insight into psychology, I was aware that racing was not just about the bike and there was alot to do with the mind. Unaware of any mental techniques, this book, to me, was very fascinating and would be the starting point in my interest in psychology.
As I have mentioned below, I have very clear pictures in my mind (internal representations) of how my future will be and I know that in three years time (December 2009) I will qualify to be a sports psychologist.
As you read this now, I am very excited and I am looking forward to this time in my life, even though, I will need to go through the process of achieving my dream first.
The great thing is, regardless of winning, I still have many things to look forward to when this time is up.
When I decided to finish racing in 2004 I felt like a broken man with nothing to live for.
Having goals and a clear mind is very fulfilling.
To set goals, I have used an anagram. SMARTER. Each letter is the start of a word and each word is what you need to consider when setting effective goals.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Achievable
R = Reasons
T = Timed
E = Empowering
R = Review and Reward
This is what I consider as training to be world champion and I still have done no riding!!!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Tracking
My work with Mindracing had produced an awareness to a number of conflicts that I had running in my life. This is where I have previously mentioned 'thinking in solitude'. I needed to work out what the conflicts were and what effect these where having on my everyday life.
I needed to consider what consequences would occur as I made decisions to change my life style in a proactive way.
This was easy, as I had decided (subconsciously) to become responsible for my decisions. The consequences of any change in direction was made by me.
To become a winner I will require three attributes.
1. The business to be running smooth and efficiently and have support from my family at home.
Amazingly (to me), as my business runs smoother, it has enabled me to train (Physically) more and spend good time with my family, even though I am still busy.
From this, I now have full support from my family and this has warmed me up, inside, so much. It's a feeling that I want to keep and will make sure I keep putting the effort in, to make sure I keep 'balancing the wheel' and avoid any more conflicts.
2. A process that I am currently dealing with is making sure I avoid 'resource depletion', before I start riding I need to have everything in place to race for a complete season. When I have achieved this I will be very happy, relaxed and I am sure that my bike training will come on very quickly. I am looking forward to this outcome.
3. I will concentrate on 'tracking'. By tracking my diet, physical training, motocross training, bike settings and testing of different products(on the bike and food) I will be able to measure my progress and eliminate, as much as possible, room for doubt.
I needed to consider what consequences would occur as I made decisions to change my life style in a proactive way.
This was easy, as I had decided (subconsciously) to become responsible for my decisions. The consequences of any change in direction was made by me.
To become a winner I will require three attributes.
1. The business to be running smooth and efficiently and have support from my family at home.
Amazingly (to me), as my business runs smoother, it has enabled me to train (Physically) more and spend good time with my family, even though I am still busy.
From this, I now have full support from my family and this has warmed me up, inside, so much. It's a feeling that I want to keep and will make sure I keep putting the effort in, to make sure I keep 'balancing the wheel' and avoid any more conflicts.
2. A process that I am currently dealing with is making sure I avoid 'resource depletion', before I start riding I need to have everything in place to race for a complete season. When I have achieved this I will be very happy, relaxed and I am sure that my bike training will come on very quickly. I am looking forward to this outcome.
3. I will concentrate on 'tracking'. By tracking my diet, physical training, motocross training, bike settings and testing of different products(on the bike and food) I will be able to measure my progress and eliminate, as much as possible, room for doubt.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Clear internal representations and sponsoship
Spending more time developing the track has help me create very clear internal representations of how I would like the circuit, future business developments and personnel life to be and time scales to go with them.
This alone gives me great motivation and a sense of urgency to do my best to make opportunities happen and, as with 'balancing the wheel', this is taking effort and is getting easier.
For this season I received sponsorship from Volkswagen Van Centre (West Yorkshire), Alex Trans, North West Mountain Bike Centre, mindracing and nmdesign.
In order for me to race in 2007 I will require sponsorship on a larger scale and I will go into this another time.
This alone gives me great motivation and a sense of urgency to do my best to make opportunities happen and, as with 'balancing the wheel', this is taking effort and is getting easier.
For this season I received sponsorship from Volkswagen Van Centre (West Yorkshire), Alex Trans, North West Mountain Bike Centre, mindracing and nmdesign.
In order for me to race in 2007 I will require sponsorship on a larger scale and I will go into this another time.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Balancing the wheel
For the last 3 months I have been working mainly at my track Doncaster Moto Parc. I need to have the circuit at a standard that I am happy with. I am almost there, the track looks great, the staff are more organised and practice days are running alot smoother.
Whilst concentrating on this, the 'off road facilities guidelines' has been published. This document is the result of input from myself, two other circuit owners and Dave Luscombe(from the A.C.U), who generated the main components of the document. I am proud to be apart of this as it will help other circuit operators set up safe practice facilities. Also I have become an ACU motocross coach assessor (something which I didn't think I was capable of doing in the past).
To achieve my goals in racing I have spent alot of time in areas that have very little effect on my ability to improve my bike skills as I have only spent a minimal amount of time on a bike.
Do I still want to race? You bet.
I have been balancing my wheel (Keeping sport/career,relationships,personnel development,wealth,family,spirituality and health and fitness equal). It has taken effort and to start off with I found it hard to consistently keep a balance, I am still working on that balance and it is now becoming easier.
My relationship with my wife has improved so much so that Kate now has her own bike and will come riding with me when I go training. This is awesome!
Using information from previous maximal fitness tests I have started training so that in 8 weeks my fitness and strength should be at a level which will be just right for when I start training on my motocross bike. I will know this when I have the next maximal fitness test!
Whilst concentrating on this, the 'off road facilities guidelines' has been published. This document is the result of input from myself, two other circuit owners and Dave Luscombe(from the A.C.U), who generated the main components of the document. I am proud to be apart of this as it will help other circuit operators set up safe practice facilities. Also I have become an ACU motocross coach assessor (something which I didn't think I was capable of doing in the past).
To achieve my goals in racing I have spent alot of time in areas that have very little effect on my ability to improve my bike skills as I have only spent a minimal amount of time on a bike.
Do I still want to race? You bet.
I have been balancing my wheel (Keeping sport/career,relationships,personnel development,wealth,family,spirituality and health and fitness equal). It has taken effort and to start off with I found it hard to consistently keep a balance, I am still working on that balance and it is now becoming easier.
My relationship with my wife has improved so much so that Kate now has her own bike and will come riding with me when I go training. This is awesome!
Using information from previous maximal fitness tests I have started training so that in 8 weeks my fitness and strength should be at a level which will be just right for when I start training on my motocross bike. I will know this when I have the next maximal fitness test!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
The Challenge
In February 2004 my preparation for competing in this seasons British four stroke championship was going really. I had just returned from a three week trip in America and I was riding at a speed quicker than the MX2 world champion Jamie Dobb.
I went to practice at an indoor track where the consequences of an accident had a dramatic impact on me which would crush my unconscious mind to the point that within three months of racing I had decided that I had had enough and it was time to stop.
After making this decision it would leave me an empty corpse and give my wife and kids a tough time.
Over time, I got over my decision, however, I still felt unhappy that I had left my dream unfulfilled. I am still burning inside to win the Four stroke British championship and MX3 World Championship. A huge challenge, which I am determined to enjoy.
I was fortunate to meet Ashley Scott, a sports psychologist, at an A.C.U. Coaching seminar (Coaching is something I really enjoy). Ashley gave me the answers I needed to start this challenge and a blank sheet to work on.
* I should point out that this blank sheet I have started working from is the result of a life changing appointment with Ashley, who I have got to know and received a great deal of help from scince.
So, while I was working in Iceland (coaching and racing) I had started to rebuild my fitness and riding so I was ready to compete in the 2006 season. It felt great, I was training as if I was already world champion and having good results with my training. However, as the season started I began to have problems which where a lack of preparation for a seasons racing. I had over looked my life style. As a pro rider everything was great, I had good speed and fitness and a mental awareness that I hadn't experienced before. This was quite a big part of a whole circle and had not noticed consciously that my relationship with family,relationships, and wealth(work) where very out of balance.
I read a book called 'The 7 habits of effective people' and with some help from Ashley (who suggested the book) I realized that to get different results compared to the past, I need to change in a way that would allow me to get my new desired results.
This would require thinking in solitude. Usually I would ask for as many peoples advice as possible. I had learned from the book how to become independent and I think that this was my first step in making changes in my self-development.
I went to practice at an indoor track where the consequences of an accident had a dramatic impact on me which would crush my unconscious mind to the point that within three months of racing I had decided that I had had enough and it was time to stop.
After making this decision it would leave me an empty corpse and give my wife and kids a tough time.
Over time, I got over my decision, however, I still felt unhappy that I had left my dream unfulfilled. I am still burning inside to win the Four stroke British championship and MX3 World Championship. A huge challenge, which I am determined to enjoy.
I was fortunate to meet Ashley Scott, a sports psychologist, at an A.C.U. Coaching seminar (Coaching is something I really enjoy). Ashley gave me the answers I needed to start this challenge and a blank sheet to work on.
* I should point out that this blank sheet I have started working from is the result of a life changing appointment with Ashley, who I have got to know and received a great deal of help from scince.
So, while I was working in Iceland (coaching and racing) I had started to rebuild my fitness and riding so I was ready to compete in the 2006 season. It felt great, I was training as if I was already world champion and having good results with my training. However, as the season started I began to have problems which where a lack of preparation for a seasons racing. I had over looked my life style. As a pro rider everything was great, I had good speed and fitness and a mental awareness that I hadn't experienced before. This was quite a big part of a whole circle and had not noticed consciously that my relationship with family,relationships, and wealth(work) where very out of balance.
I read a book called 'The 7 habits of effective people' and with some help from Ashley (who suggested the book) I realized that to get different results compared to the past, I need to change in a way that would allow me to get my new desired results.
This would require thinking in solitude. Usually I would ask for as many peoples advice as possible. I had learned from the book how to become independent and I think that this was my first step in making changes in my self-development.
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