Mental Toughness

Monday:  A huge congratulations to Kristin Hedstrom and her doubles partner in winning the Lightweight Women's Double at World Cup II in Hamburg, Germany this past weekend!!  Watch the racing here!

Last week was a whirlwind of traveling, friends visiting from out-of-town, and Princess milestones.  I was lucky to have Amber, a close rowing friend from college, visit me this weekend.  She even came to practice on Saturday morning and did 3x1000m race pieces!

Me, Amber, and of course, the Princess

As for the Princess, she finally decided to walk!  Instead of a crawling baby, we now have a walking, laughing, crying toddler.

My last post, which was about the Bathroom Guy, was over a week ago.  Between then and now with all those distractions from life, I have been somewhat at a loss and I have found myself lacking a bit of mental toughness like my mind is not in the game.

What comes to mind when you think about mental toughness?  For many people, mental toughness is about determination, pushing yourself to win, doing what it takes to get the job done, leaving everything on the water on race day.  I actually think that there are four types of mental toughness:

1. Hunger
2. Consistency
3. Focus/concentration
4. Tenacity

Hunger.  This is what usually comes to mind when you think about mental toughness.
It is race day and you are in the third 500m in your 2,000m race.  Are you hungry for more?  Can you push yourself to the limit?  Can you do what it takes to win?  Can you put everything on the line?

Consistency.  This usually comes with practice, experience, and maturity.
Each time you do a long steady state piece, are you consistent in your power, technique, rhythm, rate?  Are you disciplined?  Can you hold your own?  Can you keep your head in the game?


Focus and concentration.  This is connected to consistency.
You need to have focus and to be able to concentrate in order to be consistent in your rowing.  Can you block out all the distractions whether they be other boats, other rowers, or all the other demands in life?  But there is another aspect of focus that is often overlooked.  When the coach tells you to make a correction, e.g. no lunging, control your slide, do you have the focus to make that change?  Do you have the patience to concentrate on a specific part of your stroke for a long period of time?  Because that is how you make a permanent change in technique.

Tenacity.  This is about how much beating can your self-confidence take.
At camp, an assistance coach who rowed on the national team told me, "When you row on the national team or on that high level, it's all about being tenacious.  Nothing is ever set in stone.  One day, you could lose your seat race and be in the doghouse, but the next day, you could win your time trial and be in the penthouse."  Some days, no matter what you do or how hard you try, you will feel like crap and you will think, "This is it.  I am done rowing."  Then, some days, you will be flying down the course and you will think, "I love rowing.  I want to do this forever."

From the doghouse to the penthouse and back.  That is a lot of stress for the mind to take.  Can you handle it?  Can your self-esteem, self-confidence, ego handle it?