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Hi Nelci!
I think the pre-run routine is solid! Of course, make sure you have flexibility in there in case something changes at the last minute but I think overall, your routine looks really strong.About the visualization:
Yes, they can be very relaxing and so yes, it might help you fall asleep haha!! You can also do it on the couch in the evening – sit on the couch, eyes closed, no dogs or husband in the room, and do 5 minutes. Set a timer so you can do a full 5 minutes and not 5 seconds 🙂 Another option is to do it at your lunch break. I also do the visualizations while driving – but don’t close your eyes haha! Other places for good visualization times: in the shower, at the gym (on the treadmill), out for a run or hike, etc. You can do your visualizations while also doing something else because it is a great way to multi-task.When you practice visualizations a lot, it gets very easy to do them. But for now, set an alarm and a timer so you remember to do them. Also, if you are feeling like you are rushing, setting a timer and visualizations of NON-agility things are helpful: visualize fruits and vegetables! Visualize sailing on a lake or hiking in the woods! These things are more relaxing and can help you maintain your visualizations longer than just agility – and any visualization practice is useful practice.
let me know what you think!
THi Lyn and welcome!
I think your overall routine is strong! The day-before and night-before stuff makes for a more relaxed morning of the trial. As you read through the walk through stuff and visualization stuff, you will find ways to add to your walk through routine (like visualizations in the middle of the walk through, how to walk it like you will run it, and also how to get more comfortable running in front of people).
>> No more than 2 cups of Coffee!!!
Wait, what??? Hahahah!!! Yeah, 2 cups of coffee is a good guideline but sometimes I have more than 2 cups LOL!!!!!
Tracy
Hi Patrice!
>>-“sometimes we nail the run, sometimes the run is frustrating. That is agility in a nutshell!”
>>Thanks for the honesty! Quite often I only see the brags and not the realities. So good to hear the ups and downs are pretty normal for everyone.Yep, I blame social media haha! We can all edit our videos and our social media posts to look world class but the reality is that agility is a high failure sport – we fail more than we succeed. And that is common for such a high speed yet finesse-filled game! For example, on Facebook this week, there are TONS of posts from the US Open – all sorts of great runs. And it was a terrific event! But the E’s and faults vastly outnumbered the great runs 🙂
>>– Tracy you also mention “Adjustments in her pre-run routine might be needed, or she might just need more experience.”
>Any suggestions of pre-run routines/helpful tips for environmentally sensitive yet curious dogs?Do you have tricks that she really likes? I use tricks to gear a sensitive dog up to run, such as barking on cue, spinning, etc – that can really help the dog ignore things in the environment. Keep track of what helps and which environments those things help the most, then you can develop routines based on the history of success.
>>. It takes many times at a center for her to relax more and not sweep the ring area and its workers on first run. Usually I have to run the first run for acclimation and toss the results.
That is where a good routine can really help. If you see that perhaps the site is really noisy, pumping her up with barking and fast paced tricks can help! Or, if she is super-stimulated, a calmer routine with precision tricks and eye contact can help. The main thing is to try different things and track how the run goes after them – the dog gives us the answers, and the answers might be unexpected! For example, my Matrix (who is now 11 years old) used to get REALLY stimulated at different sites. So I thought I needed to calm her outside the ring… NOPE! It didn’t help at all. So I tried getting her nuts and doing crazy high action tricks in our pre-run routine – and it totally helped her settle in and nail the runs. Crazy, I know! That is why we let the dogs give us feedback 🙂
>>She does not play with toys at trial and I can not run her off leash outside with frisbee etc or she would be gone seeking outer Mongolia.>>
You can totally use food as a high action reward! Many dogs won’t or can’t play with toys at trials, so we use treats but we move the treat around like a toy.
>>If I have opportunity to add in as pre-run routine, I use wadded up paper to play fetch/catch near ring and that helps a lot for focus as pressure release. I did not have any paper this time around though. At this trial I had to stick to tricks.
I think you need to have a supply of paper in your training bag and in your car, and also odn’t be shy about asking other people for paper LOL!! It seems like it really helps her 🙂
>>>Balancing rest with re-acclimation is so important for us so she does not switch off or glaze over mentally exhausted.
So true! If you have a long time between runs, you can set an alarm for maybe 2 hours of rest then take her out to walk around and remain acclimated, then back for a snooze 🙂
>>…Ok…I am going to go over to visualization
section now since I have questions about how to work through sideline people etc.I think we will be starting a separate thread for this issue, because so many folks have mentioned it already!!!! Let me know what you think 🙂 Ignoring ugly comments and intimidating people takes practice for sure!
Tracy
Great!! I think the links *are* supposed to work immediately, so we will look at seeing why they did not. And I love your screencast!!!
Hey Carolyn – which links? Can you send a screenshot? Also, which browser are you using? We will look into it.
TracyHi Mary!!
>>I have had courses where every jump was the same color and I end up counting each obstacle which can be very distracting.. So I think that learning to memorize and visualize especially is going to be really helpful when those same color courses pop up.
I tend to learn courses in terms of shapes and lines for the dog, with handling in there to create the shape. Keep practicing and your mind will tell you how it needs you to remember the courses. One thing I do for myself (and when I am feeling evil, I make students do it too haha) is that I will sometimes NOT walk a course or sequence – I try to memorize and run it without walking so I can thinking about shapes and lines.
>>You made me feel soooo much better and all your fantastic suggestions are extremely helpful when dealing with those negative individuals.
Sadly, there are a lot of negative people out there in agility and dealing with it is really important. It is amazing (and not in a good way) how one negative comment can stick with us when a million positive comments tend to roll right off. I am sure it is partly due to how the brains process trauma – we tend to amplify negatives and diminish positives and it takes a concerted effort to change that.
>> I honestly am surprised you even have to deal with it negative people so it is not just me out here.
Yes, it is all of us, not just you. I have found that it feels like I have to deal with negative folks now a lot less because I am more prepared and negative comments roll off more easily – but I still do plenty of prep to be ready to embrace positives and ignore negatives.
>> I think in some ways its worse that it was just a few years ago. But it just depend on the dog.
Yep – it might be worse than ever, especially in this age of social media where folks feel like they can just say anything they want LOL!!! But, no problem, we are better equipped than ever to handle it.
>>As many people you meet and do seminars for I know you can’t remember everyone. But in 2012 I had an opportunity to meet you and attend two seminars you did before CPE Nationals that year with MY Toby.
I totally remember those sessions, they were so much fun!!!! I had my tiny baby Papillon “Crusher” with me LOL!! That was June 2012, right? Fun groups 🙂
>>Happened to be in one of our agility classes and they were making some broad statements in general about handlers and their dogs. I had heard enough b.s. and I walked up to her, put Tanner in her arms and said okay run him!! Here is your chance to prove to me what a great handler you are. Her Eyes got as big as saucers and she handed him back to me with “we all know he won’t run for anyone but you just like Toby!” I looked her in the eye and said “then I strongly suggest you shut your trap and if I hear another word about what a horrible person I am to Tanner, and wants to undermine what I am working on with him besides what rotten agility dog he is YOU WILL be running him at the next trial!” Well all that B.S. stopped.>>
YEssssssssss good for you! You stood up for yourself and your dog!!!
I kinda feel sorry for the folks who stir up that kind of BS – when I get to know them, I find that they generally have some sort of overriding sadness or anxiety in their world which leads them into a super negative place that gets dumped on us. So I do have a bit of empathy… but I also will stand up for myself and my dog!
The “here, you run her!” approach was developed for my BorderStaffy, Matrix – and I also use it for my Crollie, Voodoo, who is one of the fastest dogs I have ever seen – and that is not always a good thing hahahaha!!
But I also now surround myself with people who see his strengths, even on the runs that have gone to crap. We just ran in the US Open and the feedback from folks I talk to was: wow, he is so amazingly fast! and also: he has so much POWER, you are going to have a great future. Such terrific positives from 2 runs where we had big errors.
So keep surrounding yourself with people who will lift you up. Stay away from both the negative people AND also the people who seem to enjoy delivering the negative comments (those folks are not helpful, now are they? LOL!)
>>>But with Tanner it has been almost non stop..
Bummer. I don’t really understand why people feel the need to do this to other people… but yet they do. Cultivate your agility friends and facebook friends to make it so that you just don’t hear it. And squash any talk of it – just don’t be receptive to listening to even one word of it. I make myself non-receptive to it by literally walking away. I have no interest in standing there listening to someone be negative or listening to someone deliver negative words. What a waste of time when there are so many other things to do 🙂
Tanner has taken you on a different path. You love him, he loves you, you both love the game – and neither of you need to listen to the negative spewing from others 🙂
>>since I could get the help I was needing in the area I decided to take online classes something way out of my comfort zone and after the first one I was HOOKED !! The feedback I was getting from agility U was so positive and instructors explained the why’s, the information WOW!!
I think we are super lucky to have access to all of this online stuff – I am able to work with people on the other side of the planet as both an instructor AND student. SO fun!!!!!
>>I hope I haven’t relayed more information than what you wanted or needed. But it was nice to rattle to someone that has been there and it definitely gives me more confidence in being prepared. Thanks
Rattling and venting and group support are major parts of this! Feel free to rattle any time 🙂 We can’t keep it all inside and it is better to chat with like-minded folks who will lift each other up!
T
That is really interesting! And I think that maybe it is a sign that you can strengthen your visualizations even more so you can pull them up after the run… and after the event! I think you might be committing them to short term memory – which means they might be disappearing after the run so that you can only rely on the video afterwards. That is probably just fine for local trials, but you will also want to work on committing them to long term memory so that you have them super solid for when you walk a course at 7am and run it at 3pm (like at NAC, Cynosport and US Open).
So to practice – pull up a random course map (either from this class or from Facebook haha) – then memorize it at breakfast time. Then see if you can visualize it at lunch and at dinner… without looking at the map again. This might help get it into long term memory (or ‘longer’ term haha) which will be super useful for big events.I was thinking about courses that I can still visualize after the event… and they are all from big events. So the visualization process needs to be longer-lasting at these events and we can get working on that now.
My guess is that your next big event is EOTT? If so, you won’t need the super extended long term memory because each height class walks then runs. But definitely start working on it now because it will totally help!
T
Hi Nelci!
Hmmm, that is interesting! Maybe women at the gym are not comfortable or grappling with their own inner thoughts? At dog events, I have gotten positive responses from both men and women – everyone will smile back 🙂 Try it at your next trial and let me know if you still see a difference between men and women! I wonder if it is regional as well – I live in the South now, where eye contact and greetings with strangers are completely normal. But when I lived in the NYC-area, eye contact and greetings with strangers were NOT normal at all, in fact we tended to avert our eyes and NOT smile. Hmmm……T
Hi Nelci! I totally agree that the judge should stay in the ring during an E – they don’t have to continue judging, but they shouldn’t walk off. I *did* address this directly with the person in charge of the entire organization – one of the perks of UKI is that the head honchos are also competitors, plus I was on the event ‘crew’ so I had easy access to him. He actually went and pulled my video, then talked to the judge. The judge actually apologized to me the following day, saying that the E call was incorrect, there were things happening that she should have dealt with better, and that she was sorry that it went poorly. I believe she stayed in the ring for all future Es haha! It was a good conversation – I told her what I learned about not getting distracted, she told me what she learned about running her ring better, and I told her that I feared for her life & safety because my dog is such a freight train haha! We shared a laugh and both of us are better for it.
So, at least for UKI, be sure to have the conversation – you will be amazed at how receptive people will be and how it all works out nicely in the end.T
Good morning!
So much good stuff here!!!!! And big successes 🙂 Here are some thoughts for you!>>I certainly altered my routines from last minute to spreading prep out so I could relax the day before.
Nice! Smart! Being relaxed and rested is really helpful.
>>I decided to pack some items two days before i.e. trial shoes, my show bag, treat/toy bag and items such as blankets, etc etc. Water, lunch, and perishable snacks I put into iced cooler the night before placing in the car as well. Had all breakfast items ready to go for am.
Great planning!!
>>Took a hot shower the night before and slept well. Actually awoke 5 minutes before the alarm went off. Took an hr of personal time for a minor workout with stretch, clean up, and then took all of my dogs for an early morning stretch in in the yard to enjoy a bit of extension in play. Got my self together and out we went. ( I still have a goal of leaving 10 mins earlier, but it was not an issue in this case).
This is great! You are checking all of the boxes in terms of prep, rest, relaxation. Having a bit of personal time is SO NICE rather than rushing around.
>>Arrived at trial with plenty of time to spare and check in to settle. Actually I took my dog to scope out the entire area inside and out with exception of the inside of ring itself.
And I am sure the dog appreciated this too 🙂
>>listened to calming music on the drive in. Basically was in good spirits. Practiced affirmations while driving (seemed a little weird to me but I did it, will continue to put up post-its)….”I am stronger than I think, I will stay connected, I will remain calm, I will support my dog, I have a dog that loves the sport”. >>
Yes, affirmations feel so weird at first, right?!?!? LOL!!! But they will re-wire the brain and so they are worth it, even when it feels so odd 🙂
>>Pre-ring routine
I stretched again right before our first run. Stretched my dog while 5 dogs were before us.
Would sneak in a peak of course the in my pocket on phone and tried to visualize over and over before walk through. Noticed the physical course before us was actually in reverse to our course we are to run. >>So the previous course had a similar layout in terms of where the obstacles were but the numbering wsa different?
>>Being happy Went into facility relaxed and cheerful. I actually met two new people which was fun. A positive experience which quadrupled into more positives. Kept smiling. I kept everything positive and brief until we were done for the day.
Perfection! Positives build into more positives.
>>Flexibility
In regard to remaining flexible. At this venue I realized that collars are not allowed & I forgot my dog’s slip lead! What to do? Think fast! I had to improvise by reversing the leash and clip the collar to make a handle. Actually worked well.Nice adjustment! And a good lesson for next time – or maybe always have a slip leash in the car. I tend to just toss everything into the car or training bag so that I an whip something out if it turns out to be needed LOL!
>>I forgot my earbuds too, so listening to music was out when inside the building. (I will make reminder note to self to put in bag).
Yes – smart to put it on a list. I also have a crappy pair of earbuds that just live in my bag for moments when I can’t find the real set 🙂
>>Also was a bit stressed when course maps were not on paper but taped to wall. No course maps were handed out. Photos only! As a newbie I usually mark my path with highlighters so I can break apart my plan. Talk about anxiety producing not having the materials to work with. Woowee! I had to really really self calm on that one when I wanted to panic. Had to just sit with affirmation “I can do this” until I got to the walk through.
Ah! This is a big moment!!! In some venues like UKI and USDAA, there is a trend away from paper course maps – which means you also have to adjust your routine. If you have a smartphone, you can draw your plan on the photo (most phones allow us to do it) but you can also have an alternate routine where you learn maps from your phone. In the later lessons where there is course memorization involved here… try it from your phone and see how it goes!
EXCELLENT job to you for leaning on your techniques to work through this unexpected situation. Rather than flip out or stress out, you grabbed tools from your tool box and worked it through successfully. While it would have been better is the agility gods had not thrown you this curveball, it is great that you seized the moment and worked through it. Now if it happens again, you will be prepared and it will be even easier to handle. Yay!!
>>Voices
Yes, those voices can be the hardest element, right??
>>The first run was a bust….my dog got a bit too heady, zoomed and visited when I lost connection and then decided to visit ring crew in chairs. In fact my dog had trouble completing more than 3 things, anything other than a perimeter sweep, sniffing at access points on course that leads to folded equipment was half *a–ed reckless at best. I got maybe 3 jumps out of her. A bit frustrating.
Yep, I feel that! The best laid plans… it is all good until we get the canine partner out. Adjustments in her pre-run routine might be needed, or she might just need more experience. Either way – sometimes we nail the run, sometimes the run is frustrating. That is agility in a nutshell!
>> At that juncture, yep, I heard voices, you bet. The thoughts that crept in “ we couldn’t even make it over the last jump, here we go again, maybe she’s not ready, this is too much for her, not impressive girly girl, you’d think you get no love at home, embarrassing, maybe we’re not really good enough”.
Yes again – we have all heard those voices trying to take up space in our heads. That is exactly why we have such a big toolbox for squishing those voices 🙂 I think every single one of us has heard the voices in our head say the same things. We often feel like it is just us… but in reality, it is ALL of us at some point!
>>In any case, I decided NOT to redo course elements since it was not going to help the stress for either one of us. She did come back to me for leash up so that was a +.
Smart! Sometimes it is better to cut bait and get out of the run LOL!!
>>I tried to remain stoic in leashing up. After which I took her for a huge long walk to decompress trying to remain less tense. Once she stopped the huffing & puffing, and frothing by coming back to earth, I moved back to the building. I decided to work on resting my mind and refreshing myself, focusing on how to handle the next run. I put her on crate rest for a few for sure. Later I would get her out to do some tricks. Grabbed some water, re-stretched etc.
Perfect. Decompress, let go of what happened, relax, reset.
>>Next run I reframed the neg voices with affirmations “connect, dig in” and support” . Decided to shorten some of the physical distance on course so she’d be more comfortable. Surprisingly, on second run I was not really too nervous at the start line at this point. Not sure why.>>
Yay! The lack of nerves is likely due to your performance goals (connect, dig in, support) and your plan to set her up for success. You also had relaxation time built in, you were rested – and you focused on the positives of the mental game. When you focus on the mental game, you will feel excitement and not nerves – and it sounds like you nailed it here.
>>To my amazement the affirmations seemed to work….I really locked on and dug in for some grit. The run connection was amazing!..
Yessssss 🙂
>>>so amazing in fact, I don’t really remember much about the actual jumps, equipment or direction. It just flowed and was comfortable physically. Almost seemed too comfortable. If that makes sense.
Yes – you were truly ‘in the zone’. So fun!!
>>>I am hoping that more and more runs will be like this, quick, calm, connected. I get now what “in the zone” may possibly be like.
Yes – that is exactly what in the zone is like 🙂 The more you practice, the easier it will be to get there regularly. Fun times ahead!
>>I need to work on ring jitters when more judgmental people are on the sidelines though. It’s tough to ignore a lot of chatter, when too many voices (some very loud) are coming at you or in your space (lol). I need a lot of head space & room for sure : )
So true about ignoring the voices of OTHER people. Sheesh, it is hard enough for us to squish our own voices, it is even harder to ignore other people!
Personally, I practice my visualizations at home and add in the negative people on the sidelines as well as running in front of intimidating people and intimidating situations. I literally visualize walking to the line and hearing the negative comments or seeing the scary person watching me – and I whip out my tools for staying focused, reducing nerves, affirmations, etc to help work through the issues of people on the sidelines.
And believe me, my imagination is a lot more creative in inventing nasty sideline people than anything I have ever encountered at an actual trial. Ha! It is difficult to visualize this, which is why I recommend doing it at home and away from the dog. It can be quite stressful but totally useful to work through. Imagine it, visualize working through it – then you will find that your mind begins to automatically know how to deal with it!
Thank you for this post, so fun to read!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! I love the Gratitude challenge, so fun!
And for the trial this weekend, consider yourself to be a science experiment in progress. What worked? What helped? What do you need to add or keep practicing? And definitely do those high speed visualizations 🙂 Keep us posted!Tracy
Hi!
Sounds like a really good trial day!!>>Trial ran painfully slow, rather that stew over it, I visualized all the good stuff from the previous runs, helped keep me positive
Perfect! We can’t necessarily control whether a trial is running slow or not, so better to not stew about it. I feel like it is wasted energy when we can’t control it, kind of like stewing about the weather 🙂
>>Also kept reminding myself to drink water, note to self, may have to time that with ring assignments
Ah yes, I feel that pain LOL!!!
Hi Mary!
Great thoughts about the course memorization! You will find a way that clicks for you – keep practicing! I think it is great that you are seeing different options or different lines just by looking at the paper: if you can go into a walk through with your ideas already mostly hashed out, your walk through wil be even more effective!
One thing to be careful of, as you mentioned, if locking onto the color of an obstacle. I try not to lock onto anything that is unpredictable or might change before the run: such as jump color 🙂 I have certainly seen jump wings swapped out for different ones before the runs start, which changes the color. And have you ever been to a trial where all the jumps are white? Eek! So color is a hard one to ignore but definitely don’t get too locked into jump color.
>>self talk assignment: As I was reading it I realized I have already been starting to do this. Wow now I can improve more!!
Self-talk is a MASSIVE element of mental prep and not just for dog sport 🙂 I have used it in other areas of life as well!
It takes tons of practice and tons of maintenance. Even the handlers who look so confident out there struggle with self-talk.>>However as I was reading it this question kept coming back to me besides all the negative stuff people have said to me. How do you handle those individuals that start pounding at you on how you should train this or that and negativisms when you walk out of the ring from your run that is really unwanted advice I never asked them for ,
Yeah, that is a pretty ugly side of agility, right?!?! A couple of ideas for you (and you will see more scattered throughout the course):
* Sometimes wear headphones so you don’t have to talk to anyone or engage with people who are trying to give you ‘advice’. You don’t even have to have music playing – just wear headphones with the cord tucked into your shirt. And if unwanted people try to engage with you, just smile, point to your ears, and walk away. This also works perfectly in airports LOL!* This is my favorite way to handle it and it will probably make you laugh too: for every negative thing the person says… reply to it with something you really liked about the run (or the previous run): “But his weave poles ROCKED!!!” Or “wow, did you see his speed on the back line?” Or “I loved his teeter!” Feel free to say the same thing over and over if needed: “I am so happy with his dog walk performance” or “My blind cross felt GREAT!” Being super positive back to a negative person will shut them down pretty quickly.
* If someone even *starts* to say something to me after a run that is negative, I just smile and walk away talking to my dog, telling him about all the GOOD things that happened in the ring. It is hard at first but incredibly simple: do not allow the conversation to happen. You are not open to it – close yourself off from it. Walk away. You do not have to listen to these people and you are NOT being rude – these folks are being rude.
* If the person pursues you and tries to continue the discussion – then yes, you can be more forceful and tell them to stop. I have a few lines I like to use, depending on my mood LOL! Sometimes if offer up the leash and I say, “ok, cool, do you want to run him?” That stops people dead in their tracks LOL!!!! And if someone is being REALLY inappropriate, I will tell them flat out: “this is really inappropriate. You might think you are being helpful but you are being quite negative. If you have comments for me, feel free to email them but right now I am here to make it fun for my dog.” Then walk away, telling the dog how brilliant he is.
* If you are sarcastic at all, you can try for a bit of humor 🙂 I am sarcastic in person 🙂 so I can look someone straight in the eye after a comment like that and say, “oh that is helpful, thanks!” It makes me chuckle to do it 🙂
Then smile and walk away haha!
>> besides not even knowing them ? How does one deal with these people besides being able to stay positive about good things happened in that run?
Yep, people are pretty rude sometimes! I like hitting them back with super positives – don’t keep the positives to yourself, tell the negative people about the good things in direct reply to their comments. It can actually be quite fun!
You’ll also see an assignment about “Consider the source” when people make comments to you. Take a moment and consider the person who is delivering the info, Some info might be hard to hear, but maybe it is valuable. Consider the source of delivery: is this someone you respect, who can provide useful info, and who knows your dogs well enough to be potentially giving you good info (even if it is hard to hear?) If so, then process the info and decide if it is useful. If not, just discard the comment.
>> Because honestly I have really had it with all the negative crap I hear when It comes to Tanner especially. Honest to god I had some say to me that I should give up on Tanner and put all my focus on Buddy he is more steady.
For those types of comments, you can smile and have a reply ready such as “I love him and I love the challenge!” Then walk away. Walking away from these gross conversations (physically and mentally removing yourself) is a key element!
>>I am really hung up on this and cant seem to get my brain to move forward with this assignment.
I personally work through these elements in my visualizations before events. I practice conversations and replies. It is hard to do this but it is SO helpful! It prepares me for when people say gross things. It is going to happen, so we need to be prepared.
I have also noticed that the more prepared I am, the less it happens. At the end of a run, I am smiling and happy and talking to my dog (even at the end of a really bad run LOL!) so I am less open to being approached by negative people. And because I am prepared with replies, the local negative know-it-alls have stopped bothering with me.
This is one of the hardest things in agility! I wish we didn’t have to deal with it, but unfortunately we do. And those negative moments are SO hard to forget: I remember a moment in 2001 (yes, 2001) when someone told me to give up on my dog and just get another dog. I remember it as clearly as if it was yesterday. The brain is a funny thing – I cannot remember all the kind words from people nearly as well, but I can totally remember those cutting words from almost 19 years ago. LOL! I wasn’t prepared in 2001, but I am totally prepared now.
Hope this helps! Let me know what you think, and let’s discuss!!
Tracy
Ah! That is a huge breakthrough! Visualization is basically your dress rehearsal for the run… and you’ve been rehearsing it at a tempo you want, perhaps, but also a tempo you are not going to have in reality 🙂 That can certainly explain why it can be hard to execute your runs sometimes! Yes, I suggest an immediate change to your visualizations: do them with her running at normal speed (which is super fast) and then do them with her running even faster 🙂 Get your heart rate up, get your muscles twitching, feel a little off balance – that is all stuff that are more realistic to your actual run. That will help you make a great handling plan and also help you execute it. You’ll also find in later lessons that there are ways to visual at high speed, faster than any dog can actually go, which can make your runs feel almost relaxed and easy 🙂
Let me know what you think!
TracyFollowing up on lessons learned – I did speak to the overall event organizer about the weirdness in the ring during the run I mentioned above. I spoke to him in a relaxed way, just letting him know that I had a concern. The organizers at this event are high level competitors so they are great about talking to competitors and understanding their needs.
In my discussion with him, I owned that the distraction in the run after the random “E” from the judge caused my off course later on – I told him that it was TOTALLY a mental error from me and that I was *not* asking for a re-run. But I did ask him to please tell the judge to not walk through the center of the course after an E as it was both distracting and potentially dangerous (might dog runs like a freight train LOL!). So he went and looked at the video of my run (and other runs in my group) – and he agreed that the initial E call was incorrect and should not have been called. That definitely hit home the lesson of stay focused NO MATTER WHAT. Ha!
But most importantly, he spoke to the judge and it turned out the judge was diabetic and having a low blood sugar issue during my group’s runs, causing some of the issues. So now that judge has been supported with whatever she needs in the ring during the long judging days to keep her levels stable.
So while my run did indeed go awry, I feel a lot more empathy now and something good came out of it in terms of the judge being better supported for her needs.
Which brings me to a great lesson reminder… more empathy for others even when things don’t go well or get weird for myself. We are all in this big fish bowl together so we might as well support each other 🙂
Have a great Saturday, everyone!!
Tracy
