The power of a present mind

The other day on Facebook and Instagram, I shared videos of me and Karel on our trainer bikes. The piece of information that I failed to include was that we were both performing a bike test to establish training zones. The test was the 4DP Full Frontal Fitness Test. We each performed the test on different days - thus the opportunity to secretly film one another during the test. My video was during my 20 minute section of the test and Karel's video was during his last one-minute effort of test. There was a lot of suffering between us both!

Because we have never done this test before, we had nothing to compare to. There were unknowns and no way to predict the future. We were both truly in the moment in order to bring forth the best effort possible throughout the test.

For athletes, there's great power of a present mind. While it sounds simple, many athletes struggle to stay in the moment before and during training and on race day. Especially in a sport like triathlon which has so many uncontrollable factors and unknowns, it can be extremely difficult to have complete focus and concentration to the present moment.

As an example, how many times have you contemplated skipping a workout because you feel completely exhausted. You somehow muster the strength to get yourself started and surprisingly, you feel amazing and have an awesome training session. Another example is the jumping ahead in thoughts during a workout or race - wondering what's going to happen in the next 10 minutes, 5 miles or several hours. Lastly, there's the example of going to into a workout (such as a bike test) with expectations of your past effort or a feeling of what you think you are capable of doing, which brings disappointment if you don't meet your expectations.

When you are in the present moment, there's no worry, overthinking, pressure or doubt. There's no thinking about past events or future outcomes. There are no distractions keeping you from being 100% attentive to the task at hand. There's nothing to chase or to make you feel defeated.

The future is unpredictable. Despite trying really, really hard to control everything, you can never predict what's going to happen. Nothing is more powerful than a present state of mind.

As an athlete, there is so much room for improvement and growth. Never stop dreaming big and working hard. Just don't be the athlete who is constantly sabotaging a training and race day performance because youconstantly feel tremendous pressure and self-doubt about future outcomes or because you can't seem to let go of the "better" past version of yourself.

Boost your pre-race mental game - YOU ARE READY!

When was the last time that you had that one workout when everything clicked and you wish race day was tomorrow? Don't you love it when that happens!

But then comes race week - Ahhh!!!

Where did that race-ready, everything clicked, workout go? All of a sudden, it's race week and now you have a mix of emotions - many of which make you feel so unprepared. 

It’s human nature to doubt yourself to feel like you should have done more. In our always-connected world, it’s very hard to keep things in perspective, especially when it appears as if everyone else is so much more ready than you are. 

Regardless of how your training did or didn’t go, it’s important that you adjust your mindset so that you go into your race confident and believing in yourself. 

Before every race, you need to believe yourself when you say “I am ready.”

For many now successful athletes, they started something before they felt ready. If something is important to you, you will never really feel ready. A side effect of doing something challenging is feeling excited and also very worried and unprepared.

As it relates to race day, you need to feel like you prepared "enough." To perform at your best, regardless of how ready you really are to compete, your mental game is extremely important so that you can feel ready "enough."

Here are some ways to boost your mental preparation before your next race. 

1. You control your own thoughts – Feelings come from thoughts. All conflicting and negative thoughts start internally in the mind. The next time your mind starts racing and you notice self-doubt or fear, let go of all those negative thoughts. Instead, choose positive, quality thoughts that will help you excel on race day. And never let another athlete or person get inside your head. 

2. Feelings are not actions – A niggle, low energy, heavy legs or nerves is a feeling. Just because you feel nervous, you feel a bit off or you feel a bit of a niggle in your shoulder, this doesn't meant that you will have a bad race.  If you find yourself doubting your abilities because of how you feel, you are putting blame or excuses on a scenario that is inside your head.  Never let your thoughts be confused with actions. You can still feel tired and perform amazingly well. 

3. You are ready – When something is important to you, you will find the time and you will put in the work to get what you want. It takes a lot of hard work to be prepared for an event but the truth is that nobody ever feels 100% ready for something that is meaningful. Reflect on your previous training, which helped you stretch your comfort zone and gain the necessary skills to feel prepared at this point in your journey. Even though race day may be tough, struggling does not mean that you are not prepared. Trust that you have done the work and remember that every great success requires some kind of struggle in the journey.

4. Try your best - Your greatest fear should not be fear of failure. Not trying is failing. Great things will come to those who work hard and give it a go - no matter what. Always race with your current level of fitness and remember that you are a developing athlete, getting to where you want to be, one day at a time. Remember, a person who makes no mistakes is the person who is not willing to fail in order to win. It’s better to have a season of small mistakes to learn from, than a season of playing it safe, with regrets of never really trying.

5. Be thankful – Don’t worry about anyone else. Everyone person fights his/her own battle or has to overcome some type of obstacle before a race. What incredible battles have you overcome lately or this season? What are you thankful for?

The next time you find yourself with self-defeating thoughts, stop and get those thoughts out of your head. To enhance your performance, start with your mental game. Talk to yourself in a way that will boost your confidence. Quiet those negative thoughts in your head so that you can make room for the positive thoughts - You are strong, You can succeed. You are brave. You are dedicated. You are resilient. You are ready. You can do it! 

10 tips to achieve peak performance with the mind and body.

Peak performance.

What is it? 
For most athletes, to perform at your best, you need to be physical ready. However, race day readiness is much more than the physical training that precedes an important race.

To allow your body to operate at a level of peak performance, you need your mind to work with your body. An athletically ready body can only perform when you are confident in your abilities and you are calm, focused and determined.

To get into this "zone", where you are able to think about absolutely nothing other than what is absolutely necessary to succeed, your body can deliver the desired results.

For many athletes, it's likely that before and on race day, you let your mind get in the way of your performance. That is, your mind works against your body, instead of with your body.

Stress, loss of focus, self-doubt, competition, inability to stay present, worrying about the uncontrollables and fear of not meeting your expectations are all race day demons that can destroy a potentially great performance by your body.

To help you achieve a peak performance by your body, here are some factors that can help you perform at your best:

1. Specific, realistic and measurable goals 
2. Intense and strong motivation to succeed
3. Self-confidence and positive attitude
4. Experience
5. Sport knowledge
6. Routine - nutrition, warm-up, music, etc.
7. Imagery, visualization, meditation
8. Mantras, courage and positive self talk
9. Anxiety management and calming/relaxation exercises
10. The mind stays in the present moment

To get the most out of your body on race day, you can't just hope that your race will go well.  It is important to not isolate the body from the mind as it relates to achieving peak performance. Race day readiness is not simply based on your physical preparation but also your mental and emotional game before and on race day.

Because only on race day do you feel immense pressure to perform, it is important to consider the following sentence as it relates to peak performance.

When you are physically ready and mentally ready, you are ready to compete at your best.