Track and Field Blogs - Anthony Famiglietti

tran-scend

Pronunciation:

tran(t)-send

Function:

verb

Etymology:

Middle English, from Latin transcendere to climb across, transcend, from trans- + scandere to climb

Date:

14th century

Ride the wave. I try to ride the wave while I race. To make the connection and begin to transcend. Become fully present. I was four seconds away from an American record yesterday. I ran on pace through two miles, but fell just short with my 13:28 5k and was personally disappointed. The past six weeks of hard work and workouts were basically a set up for this year. In surfing you usually wait for the "set" to come in. You basically wait for the water to surge up and drive in a set of waves. The earth and all of its many forces and systems are what drive the waves. It is simply your decision to have the guts to paddle hard to keep up and drop in. Running is different. Months of hard work, passion, focus and dedication are what create the surge for a runner. Sometimes you can feel the buildup and you start to work like crazy to get ahead of the wave. Work too hard, get too far ahead and you wipe out. Drop in too late and you miss the wave entirely. Training and racing are parallels in this way. Go out too hard in a race and you crash and burn. Wait too long a gap forms and you miss your chance. Achieving a truly transcendent performance is dependent on finding the balance. Becoming fully present and embracing the challenge at hand is key to unlocking your full potential. Knowing yourself, eliminating the conditions of fear and anxiety and tapping into your instincts moves you toward, "That to which words and thought do not reach."* Sometimes the transcendent reward is embodied in winning, but many times it is not. Running with purpose daily in this way will open your eyes to what that really means.

Sometimes I get in my own way when racing. Sometimes others get in my way. Sometimes it is important to not think, to not anticipate and just race. It is easy to get upset when you know your fitness is there, but fail to fully rise to the occasion. I know why I was unable to find the balance yesterday. I know why I didn't ride the wave. Reflecting on and understanding what is keeping you from moving toward rising above is essential to manifesting a great performance. I'm sure the windy conditions had something to do with why I lost a few seconds today. But wind is what creates most of the good waves out there. I'll sit patiently in the mean time waiting for the next set to rise up knowing the work has been done. Hopefully I'll have the presence of mind this time to follow my heart and not hesitate. I'll drop in and never look back... maybe I'll look back just once as I near the finish.

Footnote * From the Kena Upanishad philosphy as spoken by Joseph Campbell in The Hero's Journey available at itunes.