Finding the Energy

The North Face Endurance Challenge 50k in Massachusetts was a grueling race of steep climbs and rocky downhills. The uneven, hard footing makes your bones ache in places you never knew to feel. With 6,000 feet of elevation gained and 31.2 miles run, we were left tired and sore. My toes bled, my ankle swelled and my back feels like I’m many decades older. These are known factors of racing, especially on east coast trails. I embrace the pain, and rejoice that my leg muscles still feel fresh. 

We ran so hard that my face hurts; not from sunburn or a clenched jaw, but from smiling. Running takes my breath away in more ways than one, and it amazes me that we always find extra air for positivity. A thank you to the volunteers giving us water or food at an aid station. A thank you to the police officers stationed at road crossings. Words of encouragement to the runners we pass on the trail to keep up the good work. Words of support for the runners that pass us to keep running hard. I saved some of these good feelings for myself too. The words of reassurance in my head kept me going, and a deep gratitude for my legs kept me running strong. 

Energy is hard to come by on long races. Mental fatigue sets in as does physical fatigue from the demand placed on our mind and muscles. Yet, we always had the energy to be kind - to volunteers, fellow racers and ourselves. I see less of this at dog shows than I’d like...less of this kindness to each other, ourselves and our dogs. 

An unkind person convinced me once that I was despised by my fellow agility competitors. At times, I’ve felt an unwelcomeness and was left scared to make the wrong move. I’ve felt the toxic vibe of poor sportsmanship, and played a part in this myself. He was wrong though. There is more good in agility and more good in me. I’ve grown past this pettiness he cultivated, and strive to put my best self on the line each day. Not just for my dog, but for fellow competitors and myself as well. If I can find the energy for kindness on a thirty plus mile race, I am sure to find it in between forty second sprints with my dog. 

A good word or two can go a long way - to motivate a person towards their goal and towards spreading a bit of kindness themselves. After all, we are all out there running the same race.  

Win More, Lose Better

When I was younger I thought the purpose of training was to be prepared for the challenge ahead.  The truth is that I never did reach the past tense of that word. What is it to be prepared?  In a literal sense, it means to make something ready. I took it a step further; to be ready was to be ready for success.  In turn, this meant that I was never ready for failure. In my world an unsuccessful attempt of a challenge was soul crushing.

I approach challenges differently now; an unsuccessful attempt of a challenge is soul nourishing. It took time to re-frame failure into a worthwhile experience. It took even longer to re-frame winning into a productive process. We can never really be prepared. Each challenge we face is part of the preparation process. A challenge by definition means you have left your comfort zone. There’s a beauty to never being ready; it means that there is never a wrong time to try. Making a true effort towards success simply requires two skills: the ability to win more and lose better.  

Winning more is the ability to recognize progress.

Let’s start by digging into what isn’t a good measure for identifying progress in agility. In many sports direct comparison to others’ overall performance is a good judge of progress, like a track time. In non- routine based individual sports, like agility, rock climbing, and surfing, comparisons against others are inaccurate measures of growth. This week my dog clocked in at 5.9 yards per second in jumpers, a dog across the country broke 7 yards per second in the same event. Is the dog across the country faster than mine?  The only logical answer I see is "...maybe?" The courses were different state to state, making the times, yardages and results of each course different. Even in our own backyard it is difficult to compare my medium sheltie’s performance to the performance of my mom’s medium sheltie. For reference, our two shelties measure the same height and are close blood relatives. Yet, comparing overall time is not how we train for success.

Comparing placement and rank do not necessarily show improvement either. A first place run with broken criteria, lucky handling and a bad attitude is not a winning performance. These are the components of performance we track to see progress: dog training criteria and behavior, handler technique and application, and handler mentality. The truth is a first place ribbon is a poor indicator of whether or not progress has occurred. To win more you need to identify the components of the performance that positively reflect the training and practice you have invested in your team.

Losing better is identifying places for improvement, and creating a plan for improvement.

The first half of this skill identifies the components of our performance that do not reflect our efforts. Identification, in both skills, answers the “what” of our winning or losing processes. The more challenging pieces are the “why” and the “how”; this is the goal setting side of winning. Why did my criteria, handling or mental game falter? This can be as simple as a mistimed cue, a type of mental error. How do I strengthen this component of my performance? The plan to improve reaction time can be to practice verbal cues during walk throughs with a trigger for accurate timing. This specific example gives the outline for meaningful training sessions and practices that can result in improvement for any loss.

For a challenge that is worthwhile, I am never truly ready. But I am now able to take away the most from a win and the best from a loss.   

Prepare Better to Perform Better

In the dog show world, we are quick to do what is best for our dogs. However, we don’t always take the time to do what is best for the handler. Dog show days can be long and full of activity. We would never let our dogs go undernourished and dehydrated before performing. The dog is only one half of this team, and handler well-being needs to be a priority too. Proper fuel is important for keeping our energy levels up and helps the brain function better. Agility requires us to stay focused, make good decisions and exercise cognitive flexibility on course; an undernourished body will have a hard time meeting the demands of our sport. 

The better we prepare, the better we perform. 

We don’t always make the best choices when we are stressed; this is why meal preparation is vital to handler performance. Willpower can be a limited resource, and a day of competition can use up all the willpower we have available.  When hunger strikes our bodies and brains will be craving fatty, salty and sugary foods to help replenish the energy we’ve used. In a world of fast and prepackaged foods satisfying these cravings does not often provide the nutritional benefits our bodies need.

A fat craving solved with eating oily foods may actually harm our performance, as oils decrease blood flow for several hours after consumption. As you can imagine, blood flow is important for a lot of the physical and mental processes we use during agility. What do we eat instead? On long days, Diane and I focus our breakfast around healthy fats to help us start the day with long lasting energy. Healthy fats found in avocados, olives, nuts and seeds help the brain and other organs function properly. Fats take longer for the body to digest and turn into energy; a fact that we use to our advantage.

A salt craving is often not what it seems. Our bodies want salt as it is necessary for survival. In the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) we are consuming too much salt. The recommended daily value for maximum intake is 2,300mg. This may seem like a big number, but consider that a standard bagel has 430mg of sodium. Salt makes food taste great, so processed foods tend to have a lot of it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates the average American eats 3,400mg of sodium a day, over double what we need to survive. When salt cravings hit it is unlikely that an individual is actually experiencing a sodium deficiency. Often a craving for salt is due to dehydration or the body is in need of another mineral. I often come across students and friends at dog shows that claim they have not had water all day! Drinking water needs to be an established habit of competitors. Not only will water help crush the salt cravings, it will aid your performance in the ring.

A sugar craving can lead us to indulge in cake, soda, and other processed foods, but this is a temporary fix that leads to more damage. It is not wrong to crave sugar. Our bodies use sugar to do a lot of good. The problem with processed sugars is that it runs through our bodies too quickly; this creates a burst of energy and a hard crash. We want our sugar to last, and this means we eat complex carbohydrates. Whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruit offer energy in a controlled manner. Fiber slows down digestion for better and longer lasting energy than processed food can offer. These foods are packed with micro-nutrients that our bodies thrive on. Fruit and vegetables aren’t always the easy choice when a more tempting treat is available. Eating healthy isn’t about beating the cravings, tracking calories or even losing weight; it is about using food to feel better and perform better.

Whether we are competing locally or on the big stage, we always bring foods that will help maximize our performance potential.