A couple of years ago, I sat some very scary and very important medical school exams -basically the equivalent of finals. To add to the shudder-inducing make-or-break terror, these were practical exams, with all the added unpredictability that brings, spread over 3 days to really prolong the torture. Each morning, I would wake up, shower, dress and then whack on Prodigy’s epic tune “Stand Up”, also the theme-tune to the first Kick Ass movie. The stakes were too high to be nervous or jittery – listening to the song was like an act of mediation, positive visualisation, getting in the zone, psyching up, or whatever you want to call it. Rather than look up last minute titbits of information or polish my shoes, I focused on myself as an undefeatable superhero about to power through these exams like an unstoppable force. As I strode down the corridor to the exam room, it would blast again inside my head, and I became the real-life superhero in a full action-movie slow mo, the build-up to the powerful finale. The song was my very own theme-tune; the soundtrack to exam success.
In a sense, I feel the same way about the 100k London to Brighton Challenge (oh, and here’s a conveniently placed link to my fundraising page!). The time for training has passed, the necessary equipment worn in, logistics organised, packing lists drawn up. Rather than nervousness, sickness or panic, I feel instead that same sense of calm determination as I did before those vital exams – a sense of my own inner superhero locking horns with something dark and scary, but ultimately defeat-able – a sense that this is all about my head now, not my feet, not my legs. “Stand Up” is playing, the volume is building, me against the 100k, I’m ready for a fight. I’m feeling strong. I’m channelling superhero. 5 days to go!
Where's Viv? 