Hurdler Mindfulness in the Age of COVID
by Steve McGill
When the coronavirus pandemic swept across the globe and took over our lives in late February – early March of this year, many of us, myself included, hoped or wished or assumed that it wouldn’t last long, and that we’d be back to “normal” in a matter of months. But then the summer came and nothing changed. Now autumn has come and nothing has changed. And there is no certainty regarding when we will ever return to normal, and the pervasive feeling is that we may never return to those days when you could walk amongst the crowd without fear of catching and/or spreading a life-threatening virus. I’m 54 and I’ve never experienced anything like this. My brother Greg, who is ten years older than me, says he’s never experienced anything like it. And I’m sure if you were to talk to people over 100 years old who lived through world wars, they would say they’ve never lived through anything like it.
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Like basically everybody else I know – the wifey, my daughter, my siblings, my colleagues, my students, my athletes – I’m feeling an unprecedented level of stress in my life, and it’s honestly been hard to deal with. I find myself waking up from naps with tension headaches, and my stomach often feels upset. COVID is the main reason, but all the social unrest and political strife in our country certainly adds to it as well. In the past, I’ve never tried any formal meditation practices, as hurdling in my younger days served the purpose of freeing my mind from its tendency to babble on till the break of dawn. When my hurdling days ended, distance running took its place throughout my late 30’s through my 40’s. Then, up until 2019, my daily morning walk served the same purpose – meditative time to get my mind right, to center myself spiritually, and prepare me to face the day. Meanwhile, writing, especially poetry and journaling, has also kept me balanced, quieted my mind, and prevented dark thoughts from overwhelming me. But ever since the pandemic took over, exercising and writing have no longer proven up to the task of enabling me to maintain my equilibrium.
So, the other day, after waking up early with an upset stomach, I decided that I needed to take my mindfulness game to the next level. Once the stress and anxiety cuts into my sleep, that’s a red flag. So I downloaded a mindfulness app on my phone. I searched for one that didn’t have in-app purchases, because the last thing I want while trying to get into the zone is a meditation app full of distractions. I found one called “Mindfulness Coach,” and I’ve been using it the past few days, and it’s been very helpful. The meditation exercises are very basic, but just like with the hurdles, the simplest approach is often the most effective approach. To just sit and focus on the inhale and exhale for 8 minutes straight can be incredibly relaxing and calming, even in the midst of all the drama going on in daily life and in the nation and around the globe. As someone who is relied upon by many to be a source of strength, I don’t often give myself the me-time that I need, and I’m sure that most people who coach and teach are wired similarly. But the past few days, the stomach pains have diminished considerably, my neck and shoulders (where the tension headaches originate) have felt less tense, and I’ve even felt less tired.
My own positive response to the basic meditation practices that I found on the app got me thinking, of course, about hurdlers, and how meditation can help hurdlers in their training and competitions, particularly in the age of Covid. Two of the kids I coach regularly are high school seniors, and they’re dealing with a whole lot of COVID-related stress. They missed the entire outdoor season last year, meaning their outdoor times to present to colleges are from their sophomore year. And making the customary campus visits is a no-go because of the virus. And there’s a lot of uncertainty about when and where there will be indoor track meets, and how much of a spring and summer season there’ll be. Mindfulness is designed to help us focus on the present moment, so for the two seniors I coach, for whom worrying about the future seems like a difficult thing to avoid doing, mindfulness can definitely come in handy right about now. And if they’re going through it, that means everybody is going through it. Collegiate athletes trying to hold on to their scholarships, not knowing if the track program is going to be blown out of existence. Professionals trying to fulfill the obligations of their contracts, trying to avoid salary reductions. We’re seeing the consequences of the pandemic in all sports, really. Even in the NBA, where there was a bubble so well-formed that it resulted in zero positive tests, athletes making millions of dollars per year were struggling to maintain their mental health because the bubble life isolated them from the world outside and prevented them from seeing their own families for a long or ridiculously long stretch of time, depending on how deeply their team went into the playoffs. Bruh, this pandemic ain’t no joke.
From my practice with the meditation app the last few days, I can clearly see how mindfulness can benefit athletes, and hurdlers in particular, for our purposes. Let’s step away from COVID thoughts for a little while first, and discuss how it can help the hurdler in ordinary circumstances. Hurdlers tend to be the most cerebral athletes on the track team, as the presence of the barriers force them to do a lot of thinking as opposed to just relying on their instincts. As a result, hurdlers tend to be over-thinkers, and have difficulty letting go of thought when it’s time to react instinctively. Mindfulness, largely, is the practice of letting go of thought. Not by pushing thoughts away, but by observing them, without judgement, and letting them pass through. The more you get in the practice of observing your thoughts without judging them, the more you’re able to focus on the moment – not by trying to focus on the moment, but by just letting it happen naturally. Effort always creates tension, whether you’re just sitting in a chair doing nothing or whether you’re sprinting full speed over barriers that are half your height. Hurdlers can often also be perfectionists as they try to master every nuance and detail of technique. Being self-critical can sometimes be a good thing because it leads you to bring out the best in yourself, but it can also be very debilitating because you never appreciate the progress that you are making. And, in the case of many hurdlers I’ve coached over the years, there’s always the anxiety regarding whether they’ll be able to execute their technique in a race as well as they are able to do so in practice. That anxiety is based on fear. Fear of what will happen in the future. Fear of failing in the future. Fear of falling short of one’s own expectations in the future. Simple meditation exercises teach the individual to slow down the chattering mind, to re-center on the present moment. By centering on the present moment, fear of failure in the future falls away of its own accord. There’s no need to push it away.
I would imagine that one of the best times to practice mindfulness is in the moments leading up to a race, when the pressure to perform is at its highest. In the minutes before the starter calls you to take your mark, stand behind your blocks, close your eyes (or look down at your feet), and take note of your breathing. Just observe the inhale, observe the exhale. When you’re focused on the breath, you’re focused on the moment. Your allowing yourself to trust yourself, to trust your body. Maybe you had a bad race at this meet a year ago, or maybe you have had bad races at this venue in the past. Thoughts about past poor performances can cripple you mentally, compromising your body’s ability to react to the gun and to the obstacles. So, as you stand behind your blocks, don’t focus on not focusing on the past. Don’t focus on not focusing on what might happen in the race. Focus on your breathing. Focus on how your spiked shoes feel on your feet. When the mind focuses on the breath, the breathing slows down. Inhales are deeper, exhales are longer. When the breathing slows down, the mind slows down, giving space to the body to perform without the intrusion of conscious thought.
So, whether it’s the stress of dealing with daily life in the age of COVID, or whether it’s the stress of stepping into the starting blocks in a highly competitive environment, maintaining a daily meditation practice can put out a lot of fires before they even start. It can also help put out fires that may seem to be raging out of control. Some coaches in some sports have started including mindfulness practices as part of their team’s training regimen. Former NBA coach Phil Jackson was famous for using mindfulness methods when coaching the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers back in the late 90’s through the 2000’s. It’s also becoming very prevalent in corporate America. Personally, I’m not big on using meditation techniques just to enhance performance. I don’t like the idea of always seeking some sort of tangible reward. The idea is not just to win the race, but to enjoy the race while you’re running the race, to enjoy training while you’re training, to find peace within regardless of outer circumstances. Even in the age of COVID, it can be done.
For Further Reading:
https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-03-24/meditation-tips-coronavirus-crisis
https://www.sonima.com/meditation/meditation-positions/
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