As we come up to the Commonwealth Games, the pressure starts to build on athletes.
All this work for one race. What happens if it goes wrong?
There are expectations from others, but more so from ourselves. Athletes are the most critical of themselves, and that's when the mind can play tricks on them.
The one thing that can keep an athlete from being great is the mind - the most powerful and underestimated part of an athlete's body.
When I went to the Sports Institute of Otago, we studied sports psychology. I loved it but didn't think it was a huge part of being a pro athlete. I mean, all we need to do is train hard then race hard, right?
Hmmm. I was very wrong. Your mind is a weapon. You can use it in so many ways.
It doesn't matter if you're the fittest person there - if your mind's not in the right place, you can kiss that race goodbye.
Some may know about the ''top two inches''. We all talk about it, but it is something that I have had to train over a period of years.
This is a state where you think you are at absolutely 100% of your effort and you can't go any further. It's when most of us pull it in and give up.
But deep down, you still have another 10% to give. You won't find this until you have pushed yourself past that breaking point, past where your body has already shut down but your mind is still there telling it to give it some more beans. This is where champions are made.
We are just under two months away from the Commonwealth Games, and our last big block of training is happening as we speak.
We are all so tired, on the verge of breaking, but we keep pushing on. Every day at the moment feels like we are breathing through our eyelids. This is when I feel I need to dig deeper to get that 2%, to find that extra something. It's mind over matter.
This is the roller-coaster ride - emotional, physical, psychological - and at the moment we are feeling at the bottom. My body is saying ENOUGH ALREADY. My legs are talking to me but my mind is saying, ''Shut up legs and do your job!''
I question myself daily. Am I ready?
Hell yes, I am. This roller coaster is going up.
- Tony Dodds is a Wanaka triathlete who has been selected in the New Zealand team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He is also a member of the inaugural Sky Next group of athletes supported by Sky Television (www.sky.co.nz/next).
Keep up with Doddsy on his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter (@doddsy-nz).
