Frustration Must Be My Friend.
Because I know him pretty well.
This isn’t so much about triathlon or endurance sports or an active lifestyle. It’s more about my frustration as a body in front of the camera. I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. TriRiot is scripted… sort of . When I’m talking like the guy who thinks he’s an expert but really isn’t, that’s scripted. Usually, the stuff outside the studio isn’t scripted.
Stuttering Attorney
When I’m driving in my car to work (40 minutes of quality windshield time), I talk to myself and the words just roll out like a hunchback doing somersaults. But, in front of the camera my mind goes blank and I sound like that attorney from the movie, “My Cousin Vinny.”
Here’s a YouTube clip of that scene in case you don’t remember him.
Yeah. Funny stuff. In fact, you might want to watch more of that than finish reading this blog post.
Forget I wrote that. Just keep reading.
It’s OK to Think. Just Don’t Overthink (for too long)
My point, if there’s one to be had here, is that I get in my own way. When I overthink things, I tend to lock up and perform poorly. The same goes for my racing and training. Just this morning I was swimming along in Banks Channel. It was a beautiful morning, my stroke felt good, the water was calm… it was a scene right out of a Halmark movie. About halfway through the swim, I started thinking about something I had heard the night before. It had to do with the importance of getting the leading arm stretched way out in front and becoming more hydrodynamic. I started thinking about my body position and trying to stretch out as much as possible. Right then my swim slowed to a crawl and I felt awkward. I couldn’t get out of that feeling and back into Halmark for the rest of the swim.
So here’s the real point: I’m not concerned, because I know it will work itself out and I’ll be better than before. Same with talking to the camera. It’s just how things work. We may be good at something, but to get better, we have to see ourselves differently which may cause a lot of frustration. And we have to keep practicing. Coming out the other side of that frustration is what is called growth. Believe me. I’m a doctor. (Don’t ask me for prescription drugs or tell me about your hemorrhoids, because I’m not THAT kind of doctor)