«I'm really happy, it's never easy to start, race and win as the favourite. We were running at home, I wasn't in great condition, because I put a bit of pressure on myself.I was a bit stuck. The national team was doing great and I wanted to give back to them."
With these words Sonny Colbrelli began the story of the victory in Trento, explaining that due to the pressure he had put on himself, he didn't have great sensations on the bikeHis coach Artuso instead explained how the tests were optimal. And so we take inspiration from the words of the European champion to understand the relationship between head and legs when blood pressure rises sharplyTo do this we are again with Dr. Manuella Crini, a highly qualified psychologist from Piedmont, with whom we have had several discussions in the past habits e the inconveniences of the athletes.
Is it possible that racing close to home and leading the national team for the first time could hold you back?
Of course yes, the weight comes on youIt's anxiety. It's stress, something we've now made pathological. They are physiological functions of the body aimed at ensuring our survival.Anxiety is closely connected to fear. Fear is an emotion regulated by the amygdala, which triggers a series of hormonal actions that cause three behavioral reactions: flight, fight, or freezingThree ways we deal with a dangerous external stimulus.
How do they work?
I am prey, the predator comes and I can escape. So obviously there is the action of the heartbeat with the blood being carried to the distal parts, I empty my bowels, I get rid of everything and I escape. Or attack, if I'm good at handling the predator. Otherwise I'll freeze with freezingIf I become paralyzed, the predator might not see me anymore.
What if we have the predator inside us?
The problem with us humans is that we are scared by thoughts and not by the predator, but the reactions are the same. So that feeling of heaviness in the legs, the condition that is not optimal, can be a mix between freezing and uncertaintyThe choice is between flight and fight. Thought isn't as valuable as a predator, but you certainly have an activation of the autonomic nervous system. And if it brings with it a feeling of heaviness, then the transition to the autonomic nervous system has also occurred. In this case, it's more stress than fear. And stress, if well managed, helps you improve performance., as well as fear. Because you still produce adrenaline. Your heart rate accelerates and therefore you run faster.
Does the environmental situation have an impact?
This is the limit, which in this case has probably been exceeded. Because you are in a family environment and therefore you have to prove yourself moreThen there's definitely his life story, that is, how he was judged in his country, so the anxiety about performance increases. And that can paralyze you. Colbrelli was very good at developing it at a certain point..
When does it usually attack you?
In theory it attacks you the moment you have the stimulus assessment. Basically you can have anticipatory anxiety, that is you start thinking about the situation and your brain pictures it as if you were actually experiencing itIt's as if it were real. The brain lives only in the present tense, so it activates anxiety, and with it comes a mental image that can even lead you to give up.
Does the brain do everything by itself?
Ultimately, we work constantly oscillating between the past and the future. Memory is not just the recollection of what happened to us, but also a prospective memory, therefore able to planAnd in planning, we always imagine every decision. As soon as we know we are going to take part in a given race, the image of the context and the place is already activated in the brainAnd automatically emotions are dragged in, and so is fear.
A truly automatic transition?
Maybe at the beginning You think it's cool to run near your house, but then over time your thoughts work and you can't control themIt emerges spontaneously and perhaps remains at a subconscious level. Then, when you're there, in a real context and with stronger stimuli, it emerges from the subconscious into the conscious, and at that point all the mechanisms are triggered. More than stress, in this case it's actually anxiety. Anxiety understood as fear, but not related to performance, but rather to judgment.. And you feel like you have no strength.
In fact, his trainer says that his physical condition was excellent.
So it was freezing, when you feel a weight blocking you. Freezing is common in the animal world. Remember the two little animals from Ice Age who played dead? That's freezing. In humans, it's not like that, unless, for example, you're being sexually abused, then you can truly experience total freezing. Otherwise, you're... in the range between normal performance and total blockageYou feel heaviness in your legs, fear blocks you, slows you down.
Once you defeat it, does it never come back?
A very strong history is created, that is, we rely heavily on what we have already been throughIf we've overcome it in the past and are good enough to remember it, then it won't happen again. If, however, we think that time was an exception to the rule, then the next time I get anxious again.
It's part of a growth process, right?
In our history there is however something from an experience that you carry inside youWhen you're confident in your abilities, it doesn't mean you think you're immortal or capable of anything. It means you have a good understanding of your own capabilities and limitations. Understanding how you work allows you to function at your best. If you're insecure about certain things, your boundaries are shaken. So you're not very capable of handling everything. Again, he was very good...
