Bryan Brosious: Operation Code Name: CONFIDENCE

For 12 years I was a wrestler. During one of the years in which I was in “Little Guy Wrestling” I achieved a top level of focus. For whatever intrinsic reason I became so focused on winning the State Wrestling Championships that everyday I thought about winning that champion’s medal. I did not understand quite what I was doing at the time, but I was making every sacrifice, doing all the hard work, and making myself a champion. My dad helped me get training ideas, he never made me do anything, just gave me ideas and workouts. I did them all and more. It was just me and my dad getting ready for wrestling season, fun times.

During this time, I watched at least 3 hours of wrestling a week (the WWE entertainment wrestling) because I loved wrestling and Olympic style wrestling was never on TV. I played a WWE wrestling video game on SEGA in my free time, and wrestled my friends (and did wrestling moves on Mackenzie) on the trampoline. My dad even bought me a shirt that said, “Wrestling is Life,” complete with wrestling shoes and headgear, awesome. That statement was accurate when I wore that shirt. While other kids were doing what kids do, I was doing push ups and sit ups everyday, 200 plus each and every day. I was also running timed miles, running up our mountain, and when wrestling started I wrestled with kids 4-5 years older than me.

My Christmas present that year was a new pair of wrestling shoes and wrestling knee pads. I was delighted when I opened them. So delighted, that I wore them both to bed and slept in them numerous times before wrestling season. Speaking of sleep, I would go to bed at 6 pm before the meets to ensure I was rested. It didn’t work out so well as I tossed and turned until my normal bed time. When the season started I had a good build up, remaining undefeated going into divisional championships. I remember divisionals like it was yesterday.

I walked into the St. Ignatius gym and during warm ups my dad brought over my bracket. While we were looking at it, a referee came over and said, “Are you in this bracket?” I replied with a quiet, “yes.” He answered my reply with, “You better watch out for this kid (pointing to the top seed in my bracket) because he is a stud this year.” When I finally met up with this “stud” in the divisional finals I had reason to be intimidated. I looked 5 years younger than I was, this kid had a shaved head, muscles, and top level shoes.

Anyone in their right mind would be intimidated, the referee had told my dad, during warm-ups, that the “stud” in my bracket had dismantled everyone so far and was basically a human-wrecking-machine. Well that “stud” didn’t know I was also undefeated that year, having 1 point scored upon me that season, and that was by a kid in the age division, and weight class, above me.

I had done everything I could and was not scared of this shaved-head brawler. Not scared, not even nervous, I knew I was going to win, 100% sure. I was a baby-faced buzz saw and I sawed through the invincible, dominating, neck breaking, number one seeded, on the road to victory “stud” 5-1 securing the divisional win. My inner wrestling power animal nerver doubted.

A week later I won the State Championship without another point being scored on me. Until this day it is one of the most special moments, and champion’s medals, of my life because I had the drive, focus, and confidence to do what it took to win. I did what other people did not want to do and it was one of my most rewarding athletic achievements. I still treasure that medal and reflect on that adventure whenever I see it.

I was reminded of this story now because I am refocusing my physical and mental training. At some point (I am assuming it was during the winter injury) I lost all confidence in my run. I swim with the leaders, bike with the leaders, yet when I get on the run I hope beyond hope to hold any lead. I rarely do any field damage on the run. It is sad, but true, that in my mind if I am not in the lead after the bike, I cant win.

Even when I am in the lead after the bike I have to fight for everything I am worth to win. Physically and mentally, at this point, I can’t run a warrior’s run and really hurt people. I am the one hurting. I don’t want to race like that anymore. I want to run with confidence that I can make up and put time into people on the run. I have been let down this year with my run because it has fallen through the cracks of training with previous injuries. I have hardly trained the run and it is quickly becoming the limiting factor in my races.

So, a loser whines that he runs 20-21 minutes for a 5k in a triathlon, yet continues to do what he normally does. A winner makes changes, thinks things through, and implements a plan. My plan was to do a running camp somewhere hot, humid, and far from where I was. Jacksonville, is sea level, high 90s, humid, and the hypotenuse across the US. It takes two steps before I am sweating, and the heat and humidity make a 20 minute run feel as tough as a race, even when slowing to 8 minute miles. I normally do not cramp, my first run in Jacksonville cramped me up instantly.

Every run makes me tougher, the heat and humidity add a tremendous amount of mental and physical conditioning to my training. It literally feels like I am running in a steam sauna, and when I run by the jungle type woods it feels like I am running through a pet store. You know that hot, wet, reptile environment in the pet stores? I can’t think of a better place for me to be, or a better plan for me to be completing. When I return from my running base camp, whenever that may be, I will be retrained running wise. More importantly, I will have the confidence that when I get off the bike I can run like a warrior. I will be on the path to think “it does not matter who is ahead of me after the bike because they are going down.” This is my challenge. It will be fun to focus on it and hopefully achieve it.

That's it, that is my plan. I have been here a week and I am having a great time at running base camp. I have already had a couple great runs in the humidity, I am feeling the run animal building within :).

My goal of running camp is to find my ferocious run animal.

I am not here to swim, because my swim is awesome right now, but there is a 15 yard pool that I train in. You should see how big the waves get when I do a couple laps without lane lines.

My hotel is sweet, it is surrounded by woods and jungle!

When it rains, it really rains!

PS You would be surprised at how much attention the "world's largest cube puzzle" can attract. It doesn't matter if I am at the airport or doing laundry in the hotel, people of all ages stop to inquire about what I am doing. The most common question is, "Can you really solve that thing?" The 7x7 really attracts a lot of attention on the airplane. The flight attendants always stop and watch me solve it.

I go from this...