Zen/Zone and erging

[slnm]

The recent discussion about nose only breathing http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12126 and my general familiarity with Danny Dreher's work on Chi Running http://www.chirunning.com/what-is-chiru ... s-running/ got me interested in the question of what it takes to relax while improving performance.

John Douillard, author of "Body, Mind and Sport" and a big proponent of nose only breathing has this very interesting statement in one of his newsletters. It's about running but I imagine it pertains to erg'ing as well.
http://www.lifespa.com/newsletter.aspx?newsletter_id=31

The experience of "the zone" is the co-existence of opposites where the athlete is running as fast as they can and totally engaged in dynamic activity while simultaneously the nervous system is in a neurological state of peace, calm and repair. During this state of exercise the mind learns how to cope with stress from a calm place and the body learns how to engage in dynamic physical activity while repairing itself at the same time.

In Chi Running, it's the attention to being as relaxed as possible while running that improves performance while minimizing the chances of injury.

I'm interested to know about experiences of erg'ing in the zone, how it feels and any thoughts on how others can get there.

[sheehc]

Honestly, all you have to do is quiet your mind, relax antagonistic muscles, use sport specific muscles with only the minimal amount of tension, and pull. If you need a specific focus, then go internal and fixate on a portion of your technique. The trick is just doing it in a relaxed manner. Nothing fancy beyond that. Let's you sit on the erg for an hour or two at a time and not really notice.

As for how it feels. Time sorta stops existing and it's like you know what every part of your body is doing at once. It's just a fancy way of saying your are highly focused. That said, if you are doing intervals, it's still going to hurt like hell; it's just a matter of accepting the pain and moving on with life. In my experience, if I actively ignore the pain or try to pretend it isn't there, it seems like tension increases, pace slows, and the pain seems worse.

I think the hardest thing is, actually accepting you can relax and that there is nothing fancy or terribly difficult to it. It becomes an issue of, the harder you try to get there, the less likely you will. At least in my experience that's how it's been.

[Oldcolonial]

My college cross country coach had us read Zen in the Art of Archery . In his view, which I agree with, its essential reading for any sportsman. Plus, lines like "be the ball, Danny" are so much funnier if you understand their meaning.

Pete