autocrossing: more money than i'll ever admit to my sweetie
this thread: priceless
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without any disrespect to the OP specific question, the broader subject is in the thread title - so to this i've two bits to offer
i'm tempted to either get a cheap monitor, or perhaps time my pulse as i idle out of the stop box (and check my time, and try and remember the worst mistakes just made, and calculate how much faster i need to be, and note that the run didn't feel quite right) to collect some data - i'm quite curious what my heart rate is these days at that moment
my hands don't shake much any more - still a little but relative to a few years ago much less. i don't come to the line in near panic any more. some runs get pretty intense but only due to mistakes or lateness - the best runs leave me calm.
the question of optimal mental state is fascinating to me. i've been a poor student of the east for a very long time, and have practiced an obscure okinawan form of karate for a very long time too. i never found TM interesting although i'd a friend who once meditated for thirty minutes on the back of a bmw motorcycle driving from cambridge north to ipswich over some very busy highways.
zen uses the metaphor of a surface of water to portray mental state, varying from a churning froth to a mirror condition. martial artists seek the mirror for the same reason the priests did - the resulting singular state of conciousness has remarkable properties. the mind when in this state - largely free of any abstract thought, internal debate, or verbalization attends to the senses and to the moment. for zen this was a warrior's skill, not just a philosopher's pursuit.
several remarks in this thread reflect individual's awareness of this type of question, and i'm not surprised.
if i were a better martial artist, and practiced more, i might be better able to summon that focus - the mirror. it means that in autocross i have found a familiar and formidable challenge.
i hear the mirror when people say that their fastest run, most memorable run - seemed slow. i've heard that more than once.
i need work everywhere - reading the course, turning the car, all the fundamentals, but no matter how long i compete i bring whatever i have learned up until that point to the line for each run. using it successfully in that moment is what i am talking about.
'pologize if i carried on...
cheers,
charlie
Charlie Thompson
'04 JCW Cooper [STX]
NER Cannon Fodder