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Willpower sucks!
by
There was a break away up ahead. I was in the chasing bunch. The pace was high. We caught the B grade bunch and maintained enough momentum to finally catch the attacking riders. Attacks kept going off the front and 45 minutes into the 1 hour race, I took too long to recover after a hard effort and the infamous ‘gap’ materialised in front of the tiring wheel that I was locked on.
I had to make one last effort to try to get across – but I was too stuffed. When I could not close the gap, I quitted.
I was met by a sea of perplexed faces when I pulled off at the marshalling area. “How can the guy who writes the coaching column in tempo give up?- Where is his will power?”
I did not have the answers at the time – but I was sure that the answers would come.
…And they did.
When I got home, I received an email with a link. It read: http://garretkramer.com/8-surprising-characteristics-of-winners-at-the-london-olympics/
…And the seventh characteristic of Olympic winners was this: “Winning athletes use stillpower—not willpower”
Well, this was the message that I was waiting for!
I immediately forked out $13.99 and downloaded the book into my ‘Kobo”. It is certainly the best $13.99 that I have spent for a long time. For me, it was just like the Greek astronomers in the 3rd century BC who calculated that the earth was round – finally meeting up with Ferdinand Magellan (who circumnavigated the world in the 16th century) and comparing notes…
Any aspiring coach (parent or teacher of any sort) has to read this book – if only to discover how current coaching philosophy can be out of touch with reality. The ideas are unorthodox and it will rub a lot of people up the wrong way – but I know that the author (Garret Kramer) is closer to the truth than he realises.
… For those who just want the crux of the book, it is that: “Will power sucks because it too much like having a shit while you are constipated. All force and a painful result. Still power is like having a normal bowel movement – you just feel that the time is right and it just lets go in a relaxed release.”