IM Kona race week - Mistake #2
Marni Sumbal, MS, RD
NO MENTAL PREPARATION
It's a no brainer that mental training can help to boost your race day performance.
Whereas the atmosphere at an Ironman event can be exciting, the big island of Kona is unlike any other Ironman event on race week. There are countless events, meet-and-greets and other activities to entertain athletes and with all of the excitement of race week, it can be difficult to tune out distractions, reduce anxiety and stress and maintain great focus for race day.
It's very normal and typical for Ironman athletes to experience a heightened sense of self-doubt, worry and fear on race week. Whereas there's a lot to consider when racing for 140.6 miles, Kona brings unique race day conditions with the wind and heat and the unpredictability of the day can literally suck the energy out of your body before you even have a chance to toe the start line.
But no need to worry.
My good friend and Licensed Clinical Sport Psychologist Gloria Petruzzelli (Dr. G) wrote an excellent article on Ironman.com that will help you increase your mental game on race week so that you can put all that hard training to great use on race day. As I always like to tell myself on race day "Control the body with the mind."
Topics discussed in the article:
By. Gloria PetruzzelliWhereas the atmosphere at an Ironman event can be exciting, the big island of Kona is unlike any other Ironman event on race week. There are countless events, meet-and-greets and other activities to entertain athletes and with all of the excitement of race week, it can be difficult to tune out distractions, reduce anxiety and stress and maintain great focus for race day.
It's very normal and typical for Ironman athletes to experience a heightened sense of self-doubt, worry and fear on race week. Whereas there's a lot to consider when racing for 140.6 miles, Kona brings unique race day conditions with the wind and heat and the unpredictability of the day can literally suck the energy out of your body before you even have a chance to toe the start line.
But no need to worry.
My good friend and Licensed Clinical Sport Psychologist Gloria Petruzzelli (Dr. G) wrote an excellent article on Ironman.com that will help you increase your mental game on race week so that you can put all that hard training to great use on race day. As I always like to tell myself on race day "Control the body with the mind."
Topics discussed in the article:
- Set boundaries
- Plan, then adapt
- Stay in the moment
- Trust yourself
- Lighten up