Since last weeks posting on mental training I have had a ton of comments, conversations, and e-mails on the topic.  My knowledge has definitely grown on the topic.  Thanks everybody!  I thought I would summarize what I have learned from everyone so far and also share an amazing experience I had on the topic today.

Resting The Mind

We all know that a huge part of training is recovery, and I posed the question of how do we rest our minds.  What I have learned so far is that resting the mind doesn’t necessarily mean turning it off.  Instead, it means changing it’s focus to something else.  The best suggestion I have been given on how to do this is to read a book that has absolutely nothing to do with training or triathlon or even athletics for that matter.  I have also found that playing my guitar is perfect for this recovery time.

Goal Setting

One of the best suggestions I have been given on this topic is to set realistic goals.  This makes so much sense to me because I can remember times when I went into a race or training session with goals that didn’t seem realistic to me and it was a mental nightmare!  I wasted so much time and energy worrying about achieving these out of sight goals that it really hurt my performance.  On the flip side I can think of times when I have been confident and comfortable with my goals going into a race or training session and it made all the difference.  Don’t get me wrong.  I think it’s important to set goals that are a little bit out of reach, but not so completely out of sight that they end up causing anxiety.

Focus On The Process and Stay In The Moment

This was by far the most common suggestion I have heard.  It came in many different forms.

Don’t concern yourself with others around you.  You have enough to worry about…….. When it starts to hurt I pretend I am in a bubble, and try to keep anything and everything from entering that bubble……..Focus on the present.  Right here, right now……Focus on your performance alone…….Focus on the process.  It’s very simply swimming, turning the pedals over and putting one foot in front of the other.  Nothing else…….Keep your head in the boat.

I love this last one.  It came from a very close friend of mine that was a rower in high school.  Her coach would urge them to not look over at the competition, but focus only on what is going on right there in the boat.  Every thought about the other boats, every glance over, only takes energy away from the power you are putting into your strokes.

A Big Slice of Humble Pie 

I had an experience today in training where I had to tell myself over and over again to “keep my head in the boat.”  I was doing a supplemental oxygen workout on the treadmill at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and I felt really good.  I was really excited and confident about the workout.  I was almost done with the warm up and getting ready to do the main set when this guy got on the treadmill right beside me and proceeded to show me what running is really all about.  I could tell he was super fit, but I couldn’t believe how fast he was running!  Here I was feeling like I was going to tear it up with my intervals, and this guy was making me look like I was jogging.  Needless to say, I had a very hard time keeping my focus on my workout.  In fact, I started to let negative thoughts creep in my mind and the confidence I started with was now doubt.  I fought it off and did my best on the intervals.  I think I even told myself out loud at one point to keep my head in the boat.  I finished the workout with some of the best numbers I have ever put up.  As I was cooling down, Paul and I were chatting and  I said, “man that guy was ripping my legs off!”  Paul told me he was running at 12.8mi/hr!!!!!  Holy #@$%!  “Who the heck was that?” I asked.  Paul informed me that I had just run shoulder to shoulder with Bevan Docherty, the 2004 Olympic Silver medalist in triathlon!  I have watched that race so many times on an old VHS tape I have.  Bevan just barely got edged out of the Gold by 7seconds by his training mate Hamish Carter.  I was elated!  Now I can always say I ran a ripping 10k workout side by side with Bevan Docherty!  I might leave out the part that we were on treadmills!

Until next time, shop at trisports.com using my discount code chowi-s, eat more powerbar, and tell your endurance family you love them.