Mental, in a good way.

Only 9 days left to go before the CPAT. This week will be crucial with proper rest, nutrition and training. I was hoping to have more benchmarks at this point but with a week and a half chest cold I had over a week ago I was sidelined for almost two weeks and am only now back at 100%. I hope to be completing Helene tomorrow and going for a strong attempt on Fran this Friday or Saturday.

I completed Grace (135lbs clean and jerk x 30 reps) late last week only about two days of feeling better after the cold and was happy with a 5:30 time as the energy level was low. My Cindy rounds are now up to 26 and hope to add to that as well. All of this is in preparation for that CPAT.

At the CPAT orientation I felt rather comfortable with the entire process and have a good feeling that a pass will not be a problem. Funny thing was that a buddy of mine from fire college was in my group and out of 500 other men and women we happened to be in the same three man team with me as well. The proctors quickly found out our history as at each event we kept trying to out do one another. This was good healthy competition for the actual test day as we were doing it all in good fun and we both were good sports about it.

The major element with training and sports is the mental condition and preparation we must complete. With this process the mental preparation must be done in a timely manner. Not only will it help with the physical portion but that boost should carry to the further stages allowing the individual to become increasingly confident over ones abilities.

With the CPAT for instance I know the time to get a pass is under 10:20 seconds. Many people state that a time of 10:19 is as good as any other because of its pass fail nature. These people are generally not the most serious individuals and thus will come out in the interview process.
Plus there is another thought that should cross an individuals mind while in the process. Who knows what those doing the assessments will think? Even though the CPAT states that, no matter what, a time of under 10:20 is a pass. But if you were the person doing the assessments and saw a time of 10:15 compared to that of a persons time of, lets say 8:00 minutes, who would you be more impressed by?

During Tracy’s time at school she studied, among many others, a great deal about the mind and metal preparation for athletes on every level. This has helped me gain a better understanding of not only how to effectively train my mind but how to apply it specific situations. We can see this anytime we watch Olympic athletes for example. Before their specific event we can see them visualize everything in their mind as they go through the motions as a dry run be it for ski jumps, floor routines, bob sledges and dives to name only a few.

We all do this on some level when we are about to take on something new and or something that might make us nervous or worried. It is a way of gathering our thoughts and directing positive energy and vision toward our goal. The better we can concentrate on the event in question the more comfortable we will be. Sometimes its simply sitting in a chair with our eyes closed and processing what is required.

So for my personal endeavor for the next week I will concentrate on every single step I need to take through each stage of the CPAT. Envisioning the entire routine will help prepare me for the challenges that will come. The time I hope to hit will remain in my mind as a constant reminder of how hard I will need to work and push myself. The closer I can get to that time the more confident it will leave me for the future as well as hopefully show those above that this is someone to be considered.