Thursday, April 3, 2014

The Zone

    In the first game of the 1992 basketball finals Michael Jordan found himself in a place most athletes dream about. That place is called the "ZONE".  Jordan made 6 consecutive three points shots and then turned to the announcers and gave a shrug, as if to say even he wasn't sure of what was happening.
      So what is the zone? the zone is when your skill, your training and your mental state all come together and put you in a zen like atmosphere where you feel invincible. You feel no matter what you are you doing it is going to end well.  Basketball players have said the hoop seemed triple in size and they couldn't miss a shot. Baseball players have said the ball seemed as big as a beach ball and was easy to hit. And runners have said their legs just take over and start to move on their own and they feel no pain.
     Let's get this straight, you still have to train and have skill to do what Jordan did. It's not like some Joe Schmoe is going to wake up today, go enter a marathon and win. Then when asked how he did it, he answers "Just got in the zone."
    Studies have been done on the "zone" also called "flow."  Supposedly most athletes will feel this at least once in their lifetime.  When? no one knows for sure though.  It could come on a training run, or during a race. When it happens it just happens.
   
"You don't get to choose when opportunity is going to knock, so you better be prepared  for it when it does." - Ted Anderson

    The reason I bring up the zone is as I was running yesterday, I started to think about my marathon coming up.  Wouldn't It be great for just that one day if everything came together and I ran the best race of my life.  I mean I am training harder than ever and I expect a PR, but what if I could go to a place even I didn't know I could.  Wishful thinking you could say.
     I have tried to think back to older races where I ran great times and I still can't think of a time where I felt like I was in a different state of mind.  So you know what this means......I still have a chance to go to that place according to studies. So I got that going for me!

Have you ever been in a race and felt like you were in the zone? and if so how did it feel?
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 3, 2014 at 8:21 PM

    I ran the 2012 Run for the Red Marathon, and was in the zone the entire time. This was during the time, that I was running my fastest paces ever. During the race, it was sunny and 80°+ degrees, and I still PR'ed, and passed so many people the last few miles. I only wish the temp wasn't so hot, I know I could have PR'ed hugely. Oh well, I'll get back to that at some point. (I keep telling myself that anyway). After the race, I felt great! Best I've ever felt after a marathon. :)

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    1. UnknownApril 4, 2014 at 3:20 AM

      I think my problem that prevents me from getting to that point is I over think things when I am running

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  2. GornTheVoiceofReasonApril 4, 2014 at 5:31 AM

    I have a few experiences in the running zone but one was the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, OK in 2010. My Garmin went dead because I forgot to charge it so I had no idea of time after 6 miles. This was the 5th marathon I had done in that year and I just wanted to be done. I decided halfway in to get this race over as fast as possible so I could rest. I ended up running 3:11, qualifying for Boston and won the Clydesdale division. I got done with that race and thought the race clocks were wrong because I had never run that fast before.

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    1. UnknownApril 4, 2014 at 6:03 AM

      Amazing!!! Congrats one that time as well.

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