Lehrer writes (page 51):

It's not the quantity of practice, it's the quality. ...the most effective way to get better is to focus on your mistakes. In other words, you need to consciously consider the errors being internalized by your dopamine neurons. ... After ... he painstakingly reviews what happened. Every decision is critiqued and analyzed. ... Even when ... wins - and he almost always wins - he insists on searching for his errors, dissecting those decisions that could have been a little bit better. He knows that self-criticism is the secret to self-improvement; negative feedback is the best kind.

On the seventh day of the Big Spring Nationals I again got together with a bunch of good pilots including all my teammates. The lift started out poor but as we waited around in the start cylinder it improved greatly. The day turned on and we had the best day for lift and height of lift. One's mistakes could be quickly erased by super lift that got you high and let you fly fast.

On the second glide after we left the start circle I was clever enough to shade to the left of the spread out pilots on glide to head more toward a cloud that looked like a good source of lift. We could see Campbell Bowen climbing in the distance and we were all heading toward him. But I hoped to find lift before I got that far.

I did in fact find the lift that was so attractive when I broadcast my enthusiasm almost every one else turned around to join me in my thermal. Even Campbell came back to get in the good stuff. This was a decision that worked out by playing the odds in an uncertain environment.

Given the prospects ahead for good lift, including a cloud street ahead, we could fly fast and could keep going until we found the good stuff.

As we headed north we had to deal with the fact that there was a cu-nimb to our left to our west. We wanted to get past that cu-nimb and make it to the turnpoint. I had to deal with my feelings of fear of the cu-nimb, constantly assessing its movement and condition. I also had to look at where I could best find lift given the presence of the cu-nimb.

Thirty kilometers away from the turnpoint, we all got back together, and climbed in a pleasant thermal at 400 fpm keeping a watchful eye on the cu-nimb to the west (hoping to get away from it by going further north) and also watching the cu-nimb to the north west north of the upcoming turnpoint. Both cu-nimbs were marked by well defined rain showers.

Also the surrounding land was now shaded from the cu-nimbs, so it was clear that finding lift after this thermal would be difficult.

Twenty seven kilometers out we all went on glider together but spread out trying to help each other and ourselves. Four kilometers from the turnpoint I found 50 fpm at 2,200' AGL. Now remember that there was a cu-nimb just to our south west and another cu-nimb just to our north, both with rain pouring out of them, both with the threat of gust fronts, although we hadn't seen them yet. The rain to our northwest was about ten kilometers away just past the turnpoint. We were climbing slow, so that was not as helpful as we would like. We still had to approach the cu-nimb which was also heading our way in order to get the turnpoint.

We all left the weak lift at 3,000'AGL, so the decision was made for me. Of course, I was very concerned about the approaching weather and anxious to get around the turnpoint and start running away from it toward the goal to the east where the sun was still shining.

I made the turnpoint at 2,700' and headed east over the shaded ground. The sun light was too far away to make it. I had to go over the town first and then headed out over open cotton field. I crossed the town and the highway at 900' with Zippy a thousand feet in front of me also at 900' AGL.

Down to 700' AGL Zippy found 35 fpm and I joined him 100' lower. I hung in the lift for five minutes but left to go to the nearby dirt road when I got down to 400'. Zippy held on and and was able to climb up a bit and get a bit further down the same dirt road before he and Jeff Shapiro had to land in the gust front.

Turning that low over a dark shaded field with an approaching cu-nimb was nerve wracking. Should I go and land and be safe? Could I just relax and enjoy the experience, the light climb rate and the broad fun of getting up over a huge field where I could land any where?

Because of my anxiety about the approaching storm I was not able to really concentrate and relax when I had a chance of getting up.