Waiting.

Of all the things we get annoyed with I would have to say waiting is one of the worst. I have a great deal of patience and can wait for most everything. But when it comes to a test or evaluation, which you are prepared for, waiting can be excruciating.

Mentally it plays on your mind as you go through everything that you must do to complete the task at hand. Go through it to prepare and reduce stress but think about it to much and you begin to over stress yourself or begin thinking about; what if I do this wrong? Or what if I am to slow?

In most cases with exams, or waiting on a decision or results, running, specifically long runs, helped burn some of the energy and on the road for 8, 10 or more kilometres, I was able to clear my head. But in this case I can’t even do that. I need to limit the amount of physical activity I do today to a short run and tomorrow even less with some stretching and long walks, hardly enough to burn the extra energy and clear my head.

So from here on out I will be listening to motivational words, for example, the Inches Speech from Any given Sunday on my iPod helps through training and other times (can’t believe that speech got so popular that some high school and NCAA coaches use it from time to time). Listening to some of my heavier and/or more energetic music (can’t believe it but a few hip hop songs have made it on my iPod for energy during my training sessions).

Sports psychology is a huge part of these sorts of events. I am happy knowing that playing on teams and being in competitive situations similar to this in the past helps. A person without an athletic mind is will not have the same advantage. But in times we need that push from an external source. Music is a great place to find this push.

The great thing about music is that it comes down to personal choice and what makes us as individuals move fast or push harder -bottom line what gives us energy? For me it ranges from bands like, Joe satriani, metallica, tool, slipknot, alexisonfire, Dropkick murphys...Sometimes even a few epic songs from the 300 soundtrack will be added to provide energy.

But even at some times someone like eminem or Kid rock will be added to the playlist. It all depends on what you need at that specific moment and/or for the specific task at hand.

For now back to waiting and listening to some more inspiration.