Happening+ Flow=Matthew Winkler

In class today we were talking about happening and flow. It seemed to have something to do with living in the moment but not actually thinking about it. it is something that just happens and only after you are done does it become apparent that you were in the moment. I got to thinking about myself in Track and Field and when I enter the moment where I am no longer thinking about what is happening and just living in the moment. The feeling is a odd one. I remember that this past February, I was racing at Virginia techs indoor banked track. It was a last chance meet during indoor track. I was running the 800 and remember standing on line trying to pick what sort of race strategy to pick. I was unable to pick one and approached the line. I saw standing on the line and beside me was one of my rivals that I had never beaten. The race started and I was thinking about each step I was taking. I came through the first lap and was midway through the pack thinking about everything that was going on around me. The second lap came and I was moving up but still was thinking of it all. I remember seeing my rival still in front of me. I was approaching the third lap. the lap the is supposed to be hardest. Then It happened in the third lap. I started to move up through the pack but was barely thinking any more. thinking back on it I had next to no thoughts going through my head. I suddenly passed my rival and entered the final lap. it had started to sink in what I was about to do. I was going to beat the person that I had spent two years trying to beat. i was not even paying attention to the splits I was being given. then on the backstretch on on the final lap my rival came around me as I was moving up on one of the few people in front of me. I was now rounding the final turn and my body felt warm. It was as if some new feeling came over me. I hit the final straight away and found speed that i had not used all race. I did not know where it came from but it happened. I passed my rival again and the body language he displayed was something I had never seen him do against me before. I achieved a personal best. I was happy and could barely think of how I had done what I had done during the race. All I knew is that it just happened. I raced in the moment and it played off because it was just me running on the track and nothing else mattered. I could not hear my coaches or team mates. It was an amazing feeling.