Podcast: Mental Toughness & Race Day Management With Karel

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Karel had his mind set on a top performance at Ironman Lake Placid. Sadly, a bad sickness (flu) knocked him off his routine and also compromised his recovery after a big peak week of training, just 2 weeks before the race. There was a lot of doubt and uncertainty during the sickness but with exceptional mental toughness and good race day management, Karel was able to put together a podium-finish race that required a lot of tools and tricks to help him get to the finish line.

Although Karel had no control over the longevity of the sickness, he had control over his mind and that is what helped he achieve greatness on race day.

                                          

In a recent Intelligent Racer podcast interview, Karel and Adam have a very insightful conversation on how to mentally manage the Ironman race and how to overcome difficult race day situations with visualization and a positive, proactive and ego-free mindset. Knowing that every athlete will likely have an obstacle to overcome before or during an important race and that the long distance triathlon requires exceptional mental strength, we hope that you find this podcast helpful and informative as mental toughness is not limited to elite or professional athletes. Athletes of all levels can use the mental skills that Karel used during Ironman Lake Placid to get to that next level or to accomplish something that is within your capability, even when you think it's not possible.

Intelligent Racer Podcast with Karel Sumbal  

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.

Boost your pre-race mental game

When was the last time you had a workout when everything clicked and you felt unstoppable?
Although we all looooove that feeling and hope for it on race day, it's natural to doubt yourself and to feel unprepared before an important event. Certainly, in our always-connected world, it’s also very hard to keep things in perspective as it may seem like everyone is doing more than you and you are not doing enough. 

Regardless of how your training did or didn’t go, I encourage you to adjust your mindset so that you can confidently say, "I am ready!"

Here are some ways to boost your mental game before an important race: 

1. You control your 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, anxiety, fear or stress, try to let go of the negative feelings and uncertainties. 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 – Every time you let yourself think that some type of feeling, whether it is a niggle, low energy, heavy legs or nerves, will turn into an action, like not being able to perform on race day, you’ll find yourself doubting yourself before you even have an opportunity to prove yourself otherwise. Putting blame or excuses on scenarios before race day is easy but the truth is that the only day that matters is race day. Never let your thoughts be confused with actions. You can still have niggles, a previous setback or heavy legs and perform amazingly well on race day.

3. You got yourself ready – When something is important to you, you will find the time and you will put in the work. 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. Since you can't go back in time, you need to reflect on all of your previous training to remind yourself that you have the necessary skills to execute on race day. Even though race day may be tough, struggling does not mean that you are having a bad race. Trust that you have done the work and remember that every great success requires some kind of struggle to get to the finish line. 

4. Try your best - Your greatest fear should not be fear of failure. Not trying is failing. Great things come to those who work hard and never give up. Always race with your current level of fitness and remember that you are a developing athlete, getting to where you want to be, one race at a time. An athlete who makes mistakes is the person who 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 a battle or has to overcome some type of obstacle before a race. What incredible battles have you overcome this season? 

The next time you notice self-defeating thoughts filing your mind, or you find yourself overwhelmed with thoughts that you are not good enough, ready enough or prepared enough, take a pause so that you can put things into perspective. Always choose to focus on good things in life, that make you feel great, and surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you.

Conquer yourself

In my last blog, I talked about getting out of your own way.
I find that many athletes are so focused on what everyone else is doing that when it comes back to your own reality, you believe that you are not good enough, doing enough, fast enough, strong enough, working hard enough or lean/skinny enough.

Every day you are filled with thoughts and while some are positive, many of those thoughts can be negative interpretations of your weaknesses and mistakes.

Ultimately, when you believe in negative thoughts, you self-esteem drops.
It's easy to understand why so many athletes give up on themselves simply because of fear of failing and negative thinking.

Let's look at some of the ways that you may be limiting yourself from reaching your full potential so you can conquer yourself and achieve your goals.

PERFECTIONISM

Are you never satisfied with your effort or performance? 

Are constant negative thoughts filling your head as you are so self-critical with every action? 

Do you feel as if you are never happy with yourself or you can never do well enough? Are you  constantly wasting energy comparing your life to the lives of others?

Training and racing with a constant fear of failure and a very critical mindset will not only 

damage your self-esteem but it could also hinder your ability to improve. 

For better results in training and racing and in life, focus on small, manageable goals.
Even better, focus on executing to the best of your ability and just see what happens. 

Keep great enjoyment for your sport with a developing mindset. 

Stop the unrealistic, high expectations and focusing too much on the outcome. 

You are human.
You are allowed to make mistakes.
When you make mistakes, you learn. 

ANXIETY

Uncertainty and things out of your control can often bring anger and anxiety. 

Injuries, travel, a change in schedule, sickness, missed workouts, a bike mechanical, unplanned bad weather or GI issues.

Accept the fact that you cannot control every situation but you can control how you deal with it.

To perform to the best of your ability, you must first learn how to manage your emotions.

Athletes who can prevent frustration turning into anger, will stay more relaxed in training and 

racing.
Athletes who are confident in their abilities, embrace competition and don't stress about challenges and obstacles will notice a more relaxed mind and body. 

Identify what makes you so angry or anxious before and during training sessions and in your races. 

With every "oh no, this makes me anxious" situation that comes your way, create a go-to strategy to better handle your emotions. 

STUBBORN

It takes a lot of courage to stop doing what you are comfortable doing in order to change and work on weaknesses. 

In order to be open to change, you can't be defensive when you feel challenged or threatened, especially if you are trying to protect your ego when someone (ex. coach) suggests to try something different.
Being open-minded will allow you to experiment and to try new things. A closed mind will never let you grow. 

In sports, you can't keep doing the same things over and over and hope for different results. To be successful, you will have to make changes and with changes comes the possibility of making mistakes. 

Throughout your individual athletic journey, you can be optimistic and persistent but always be open to a different approach.   

DISTRACTIONS

Do you live a conflicting lifestyle? 

You have goals and you love to race but it can be a struggle to put in the work to train.
You know your diet is limiting your health and/or performance but you just can't seem to hold yourself accountable to your nutritional goals.

There appears to be an epidemic of being easily overwhelmed. With so much information available and the ease of being connected to everyone at anytime, there is a cost of being so distracted - it's very hard to focus on what works best for you.
Distractions are exhausting so consider how much energy and time you spend focusing on what other people are doing. How's it working for you?

Be an active participant in your life. Be present during your workouts, listen to your appetite and hunger cues during the day and always respect your body. 

Get out of your own way

If you are training for a race that is happening in the next 6-8 weeks, you may find that this is a tough time of the year. While your excitement is building to put your fitness to the test, you may find that your motivation, focus and determination to train is like a rollercoaster - some days you are exhausted and struggle to get started whereas other days you have the energy to tackle what's on your training plan...and crave more.

While all of this is normal for a hard working athlete like yourself, it's very easy to let your mind get in the way of the body.

If you don't believe me, how many times have you felt so exhausted, tired and sore, struggling to even start a workout and then after the warm-up you feel great and surprise yourself with the energy that you thought you didn't have?

-------------------------------

If you want to conquer yourself and reach your goals, you have to believe in yourself.

It’s human nature to enjoy doing things that come easy and are within your comfort zone and to put off things that are uncomfortable or difficult.

Don’t be afraid to fail when trying something new.
Fear of failure is often the main reason why athletes do not move closer to their goals.

Many people resist making changes because it is uncomfortable to change.

If you believe in yourself and your own ability to be successful, you will put yourself into a position to be eligible to reach your goals.
Don't let your mind be an obstacle in your journey.

Beliefs drive behaviors. 

If you believe in yourself and your abilities, you will succeed.

As a goal-driven, hard-working and dedicated athlete, it’s very easy to lose enjoyment of your sport simply because there are too many self-defeating thoughts and behaviors that weaken great training sessions and strong race-day performances.

You don't have to have perfect to be successful. You just have to give your best effort.

If this post resonates with you, identify why you are letting yourself get into your own way.

Like anything in life, goals require hard work.

If you stay focused, determined and motivated AND find a way to have fun, your goals will become reachable.

Next time you find yourself mentally unfocused or in an uncomfortable situation, don't let your mind get in the way of your body.

Conquer yourself

If you want to conquer yourself and reach your goals, you have to believe in yourself.

It’s human nature to enjoy doing things that you do well in and enjoy the most and to put off things that are uncomfortable or difficult. 

Don’t be afraid to fail when trying something new.

Many people resist making changes because it is uncomfortable to change. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone.

If you believe in yourself and your own ability to be successful, you will put yourself into a position to be eligible to reach your goals.

Beliefs drive behaviors. If you believe in yourself and your abilities, you will succeed.

If all an athlete had to do was to follow his/her training plan to be successful, “coaching” would be an easy job.

One of the most important, yet overlooked, areas of fostering performance gains is the mental side of training.
Many athletes let their mind get in the way of the body.

As a goal-driven, hard-working and dedicated athlete, it’s very easy to lose enjoyment of your sport simply because there are too many self-defeating thoughts and behaviors that weaken great training sessions and race-day performances.

It is important to have a heart-to heart with yourself and identify why exactly, you are getting in your own way as you train to reach your performance goals.

Here are two common reasons as to why athletes struggle with training for a race.

Perfectionism
Are you never satisfied with your effort or performance?
Are constant negative thoughts filling your head as you are too self-critical with every action? Do you feel as if you are never happy with yourself or you can never do well enough?
Training and racing with a constant fear of failure and a very critical mindset will not only damage a successful performance or training session but can negatively affect self-esteem and enjoyment for your sport.
For better results in training and racing, focus on small, manageable goals. Even better, focus on executing to the best of your ability and just see what happens.
Stop the unrealistic, high expectations or being too focused on the outcome or metrics.

Lack of motivation and distractions
Do you live a conflicting lifestyle?
You have goals and you love to race but it can be a struggle to put in the work to train?
Or, do you find yourself just going through the motions when you train but without passion, joy and excitement?
Motivation has to come from within and you must be willing to do the work.
Do you often ask yourself why are you so afraid to be the best athlete that you can be?
As you are doing the hard work (that you secretly love to do), you have to have a deep, burning desire that no matter what else is on your daily plate, you are going to do your best, with the time that you have, to reach your full potential.
Release your inner strength and stop the excuses – even when you are feeling off, you still want to believe that you have it in you to perform at your best.

Like anything in life, sports require hard work.
If you stay focused, determined and motivated and find a way to have fun, your goals will become reachable as you turn into the athlete that you have always aspired to be. 

Next time you find yourself mentally unfocused or in an uncomfortable situation, pull-out your champion mind-set.
Show-up and give your best effort.
Conquer yourself!

Kona mindset

It's all getting a bit more real right now for me and Karel. 

The weekly training hours are increasing, we are always eating (seriously - always eating!), we need to restock our sport nutrition supply more quickly and sleep is much more of a priority. 

Can you believe it?

Only 67 days until the 2015 Ironman World Championship!!!!

Every morning I wake up with excitement to train my body for my 4th IM World Championship and my 10th Ironman. I love the journey that I get to share with my body in training for an Ironman. 

Every evening I go to bed and think about racing for 140.6 miles on the big island of Kona and staying mentally strong for all of those miles just to be able to run down Ali'i drive in order to cross the epic IM World Championship finish line. 

For the past few years, I have learned so much about mental training from my best friend Dr. G.(Gloria).

To many athletes, mental strength means being tough and pushing through. I agree that being mentally strong requires a tremendous amount of fortitude but I have learned from Gloria that mental toughness also requires being flexible, being present, accepting situations as they are and not getting anxious about things out of our control. 

So much of mental toughness is being within the moment and I think a lot of endurance athletes forget (or don't understand) that finding success in a workout or on race day is far less based on how hard you push when the going gets tough but instead, how willing you are to adjust how you push when the going gets tough. 

The other day I was reading an article in the September issue of Triathlete Magazine, written by Simon Marshall, Ph.D. The article was titled Boost your Mental Muscle. 

A lot of the article reminded me of things that I have learned from Gloria as she has helped me with so much in my life from career and education to my racing and training. She has helped me with coping with injuries, moving on from a bad race, having more self-belief and how to not mentally give up in training and in races. 

As a coach and endurance triathlete, I felt like this was a great article to share so here are a few important segments directly from the article that may benefit you in training and in racing:

Dealing with an injury. 

Refuse to become a passive patient by applying a "training mindset" to rehab. Dr. Marshall says that he is amazed at the number of triathletes who are so goal-oriented when it comes to their training but suddenly become unfocused and apathetic when dealing with an injury. 

If you are in denial about an injury ("it's not that bad.  I can train through it") what advice would you give to an another athlete in the same situation? 

A bad race. 
Letting go of the past needs to be learned because we are biologically wired to focus on thing that go wrong and gloss over stuff that goes right. This wiring helps our brain adjust future thinking and behavior. Verbalize your anger or frustration in order to connect the emotional outlet (verbal) with the thing that caused it (describe the event). Then determine if the cause was within your control or not within your control. Now go through "within-my-control" items and devise a strategy to reduce the likelihood of it happening again. Lastly, identify a positive from the race. It takes mental toughness to refuse to quit and still finish (even if slow). 

Needing more self-belief. 
The judgments we make about ourselves and our abilities can be crippling. If you constantly compare yourself to other athletes and conclude that losing makes you feel worthless as a person, it should be clear why this is damaging. Give yourself lots of opportunities to experience success. Use strategies to manage your inner critic, or the voice that is constantly reprimanding you for screwing up and not being good enough. 

Not feeling like a natural athlete. 

Talent is vastly overrated. Sporting history is littered with tales of the misfit toys who succeeded despite their lack of physical prowess, unorthodox technique or decidedly average lab data.
For the vast majority of us, our brains are biased to take personal credit for success and externalize reasons for failure. Ask a triathlete to explain the reasons for a poor performance: I forgot my nutrition, I dropped my chain, I got beaten up in the swim, a marshal sent me off course OR the opposite, blaming external factors like I'm not fit enough, good enough or talented enough. 

A hallmark of the mentally tough is the ability to correctly identify the reasons why things happen - and this takes training. 

Control the controllables. There will always be something that can derail the perfect plan but there are two factors entirely immune to all outside forces: your effort and your attitude.
Frame success:
1. Did I fully commit to it? Was I brave enough to give it everything I had? (Effort goal)
2. Was I grateful and positive? Did I take time to appreciate where I was and what I was doing? (Attitude goal). 

Mentally quitting during races
"Morison rule" - never quit on an uphill. Put off decisions about quitting until you get to the easy parts of the course. You'll be amazed by how effective this simple strategy is for staying in the game. 

If you have a tendency to mentally throw in the towel, there's a good chance you're trying to protect something. 

It takes guts to lay it all out there. Why? Because we risk the ultimate judgement if it still isn't enough. If I give it everything for everyone to see and I still fall short, then what? What does that say about my ability? What will others think?
Train yourself to recalibrate how you define success and failure. This doesn't mean that finish place or podiums are unimportant, just that during the race (or training session) you only focus on things that are always in your control - effort and attitude.  

Nobody really likes to hurt. It's the biochemical and psychological satisfaction that comes after you have "embraced the suck" that is so powerful. This is how we redraw boundaries of what's possible and build confidence. 

To learn how to cope with the suck is to force yourself to experience it:
1) Segmenting: Use distance or time markers to carve up the session so your head only has to cope with small periods of pain at a time.
2) Counting: Like Rain Man. Counting works because your brain finds it easy, there's an explicit sense of progress (numbers go up or down) and the repetition can help you get into a hypnotic state. 

To read the entire article, check out the September issue of Triathlete Magazine, pg 72-75. 

Kona prep mind over matter: Train the brain

Well, it's finally official. 

MARNI SUMBAL (30-34 age group): BIB NUMBER 1933

With this week being my last week of Ironman training before an active recovery week followed by race week taper, my body feels amazing. With our approach to Ironman training being enhanced every year, I really feel Karel and I nailed my training for my 7th Ironman and 3rd Ironman World Championship. Every go-around we reflect on what didn't work and then we stretch the boundaries on how much I can get my body to adapt with the least amount of training stress. With this "less is more, train hard, recover harder approach" I have experienced bitter sweet feelings before my last three Ironmans. Absolutely I am ready to taper and rejuvenate from all this Ironman Kona specific training and I am excited to experience the normal "hunger" I experience on race week to get out there and let my body do it's thing. But my body and mind feel healthy. They feel strong and confident and it saddens me that this training is coming to an end. I still do not dread any workout and I continue to look forward to what my body can do with every workout I am given from Karel (and oh boy does he push me!). What's even more amazing is that instead of experiencing burnout (which I never get - ready for the season to end, sure, but never a loss of motivation), I continue to see big performance gains. I have off workouts but not as often as the great workouts. Although I pushed my body to a whole new level to qualify for Kona at 2013 Ironman Lake Placid, I challenged myself to training my brain just as much as training my body - with the help of Gloria, my mental coach (who will also be my roomie in Kona).



                                  
                                                                           SOURCE

One thing I have learned with my journey as an endurance age group athlete, is that the mind must be as strong as the body. You can put in all the hours and miles as you want to make it look good on paper that you did the work but if you want your body to perform, your brain must be tough and ready for the challenge.

Training the brain is not easy. And this is why I rely on Gloria to help me for when I experience doubt, I know she has a toolkit to guide me in the right direction.

For example, whenever you start a training plan, for most people the first 3-4 weeks seem to fly by. Endorphins are flowing, the body feels great and everything goes as planned. But then there are the moments here and there were workouts are challenging and the doubt comes about. Looking ahead 4,8,12 weeks down the road, you think to yourself how will I ever be able to finish the race with my goals accomplished. Then, suddenly, with a balanced approach to training. Everything suddenly comes together. The puzzle pieces make more sense and although it doesn't necessarily get easy, the mind knows that race day is coming. So no more excuses, what if's or doubts but instead, confidence that the body CAN do what it was trained to do. However, for many people, the excuses, doubts and what if's continue until race day and that can be very draining and negative for a body that is primed to perform.

This week has been tough. Putting in those final workouts to my Ironman puzzle has been time-consuming and challenging. But, what's keeping me positive is that my body and mind are strong. I do not doubt my fitness and I feel very confident about my race (3rd time is the charm as they say :) Of course, knowing that I just did an IM about 12 weeks ago, I do not fear the distance and I have trust in myself that I can race smart in Kona with the notorious wind/heat race day conditions (among 1500 of the best IM athletes around the world). More than anything, I am not focusing on getting faster but instead, building confidence for race day. Learning how to overcome obstacles that occur in training is just as important as nailing a fueling plan or having several long workouts in the bank.

This morning I had a tough brick.
First off - 4500 swim.
Then a 6 mile run.

On paper, my physically trained Ironman body was ready for the distance but it was the sets that challenged my mental strength.

4500 swim:
2 x 1700 swim w/ 1:30 rest in between
1100 swim
All Ironman "steady" pace

With the pieces coming together very nicely, this set allowed my mind to wander. I had plenty of time to think about anything and everything but I was forced to stay in the moment. In an Ironman, it's very easy to think about mile 20-26 of the run.....when you are at mile 1 of the swim. But with 140.6 miles to cover, what's the point of thinking ahead when you can stay in the moment. Why direct your thoughts to something that has not happened yet when you can direct all your energy to what's occurring at that moment in time.

Although good on paper, I struggled mentally with this swim because it felt easy....but on my watch it didn't look fast (relative to me). But I felt SO good in the water. It was just a mental mess going on this morning in the pool and only I could figure my way out of it. So I had two choices - be grateful that it feels easy now and it once did not feel easy 8 weeks ago (because I wasn't "trained" yet for this set) OR get frustrated and upset and throw in the towel.

I choose the first option.

I finished the swim feeling happy and confident. Confident that I did the work in the pool, happy that I still love to swim. I will not bash my body for not giving me faster times for I put in the necessary work and this was all that my body could tolerate alongside my bike and run training...and balancing life, sleep, diet, traveling, etc. I am excited to start the Kona swim with a body that loves to swim.

Next up - 6 miles of running.

I remember back in June that my endurance was not where it is today. I was getting my body back into shape after 90 days of no running and running just wasn't fun for me. I was not able to push and let my mind be my only limiter. With an amazing 10 weeks of injury-free training behind me and a great foundation from recovering so well from IM Lake Placid, I have enjoyed every run and I constantly thank my body (and continue to do all my hip/core/back exercises and stretching/foam rolling/110% Play harder icing, epson salt baths, massages 1-2 times a month).

So today, I put another workout in the Kona bank that brings me confidence for my mental tool kit.

6 x 1 miles with 30 sec walk in between.
Odd steady, even "faster" (I don't have a lot of speed in my body so I am not pushing my boundaries with my current lactic threshold).
48:48 time
6.11 miles
Average pace 7:59 (including walks)
Mile 1: 8:17 min/mile, 182 HR (rush of blood)
30 sec walk: 122 HR
Mile 2: 7:25 min/mile, 161 HR
30 sec walk 132 HR
Mile 3: 7:55 min/mile, 141 HR
30 sec walk 131 HR
Mile 4: 7:06 min/mile, 150 HR
30 sec walk, 151 HR (body was speaking to me)
Mile 5: 7:57 min/mile, 146 HR
30 sec walk 143 HR
Mile 6: 7:05 min/mile, 156 HR

What made this so hard? Once again - it all came down to mind over matter. As I ran the first hard interval, my brain instantly thought "There's no way you will be able to run the last one hard." Here I am not even finished with the first interval and despite my legs speaking to me, my mind was already trying to convince me that there was no way I could do 3 sets of these. But after the recovery walk and a steady interval (which was surprisingly "fast" compared to the "fast" interval), I decided to just give it a go and instead of making excuses, just make things happen. After the 2nd interval, viola. Just one more fast to go. Although it did get tough as the lactic acid was accumulating in my oxygen deprived body, never did my body tell me that I couldn't do it.

One thing I have learned with training for sports and racing is that you can never count yourself out OR think you have it in the bag until you cross the finish line (or finish a workout). When it comes to endurance racing, the best way to succeed is to slow down the least amount possible. In other words, you don't have to be fast, you don't have to be the best at everything and you don't have to get upset if things aren't going as planned at a certain moment. What you have to do is stay in the moment. The only way to get yourself to the next interval, mile or set is to be sure your mind is just as strong as your body.


Next time that you doubt yourself, give it a go. Don't fear the hard for it will get easier. And when it does, you will likely find yourself craving another challenge of seeing where you can take your body and mind. For me, I love everything that comes with training for an endurance event for my body doesn't have to let me do what I ask for it to do when I train it. I am so incredibly grateful to my body no matter how the workout unfolds.

Thank you body....and mind.

The patient and mentally strong athlete - revisited

Do you want the perfect life? 

Life is not perfect. Healthy individuals get cancer, cyclists are an annoyance to drivers, employees who work less get paid more than you and when everything seems to be running smoothly, life happens and you feel unbalanced. 

So what you can desire in life, is the ability to want the most out of your life. You can define your own definition of the perfect life by one that is consistent and involves a lot of hard work, growth and reflection. 

Today I officially registered for the 2013 Ironman World Championship in Kona Hawaii. This will be my 3rd experience on the big island, racing amongst the best (and most inspiring) age group and professional triathletes in the world. I will be arriving October 7th and departing October 15th. All the logistics of traveling are settled and all I have left to do is prepare my body and mind for my 7th Ironman. Nine weeks of another Ironman journey.

Thank you body.

One of my favorite parts of sharing my journey of life with others via my blog and facebook page is being able to revisit a few blog posts that describe my thoughts and philosophy of training and living a great life.
I feel we must all be patient in life, no matter what our fitness level.
We must always be mentally strong (and stable) to accept the demands, the outcome and the process in between.
And lastly, there are inspiring people all over this world. Although it is very important that we take care of ourselves in order to be able to take care of others, recognize that there are many people out there who don't get your good days and maybe even wish for your "bad" days. We all experience life differently and at the end of the day, we can only go to sleep wanting  more out of life yet willing to make the changes to make those things happen.

Patient athlete

mental training

Inspired by Kona

For your viewing pleasure (and happiness): (thanks Courtney W for the link)-
Dan Gilbert: the surprising science of happiness

Are you mentally strong enough to succeed?

Did you know that we have over 50,000 thoughts a day? According to some research, the majority of our thoughts are negative. As a writer and a speaker, I feel my brain is on over-drive from the moment I get up until I go to bed. I am always thinking and some of my best thoughts come when I am working out as I feel the rush of adrenaline and blood flow helps my thought processes.

I'm sure you don't think about all the thoughts that go through your head as many are silly, non important and meaningless. But others likely contribute to how you live your day and the choices you make throughout the day.

For example, how many times have you been driving to work or on a road trip and in the other direction there is a crash or extreme traffic pile-up. You think to yourself "I am so glad that's not me!"

As athletes and fitness enthusiasts, I am sure there are many times when you think to yourself "Why am I doing this?" but certainly it hasn't slowed you down or stopped you from doing what you love.

The other day I was putting away dishes and my blender slipped out of my hands and fell in the sink. I thought to myself "OMG! That would be the most horrible thing in the world if my blender broke!!!" Thankfully, the blender didn't break but the next thought in my head was "OK - that wouldn't be such a bad thing as I could buy a new blender and of course, there are worst things in life than breaking a blender on accident."

From thoughts about body image, food (aka 'bad' food) and health to athletic performance, careers, relationships and experiences.....we have a lot on our mind and sometimes it can be positive but many times it can be negative.

Not sure if you saw or heard about Alistair Brownlee's amazing performance at the ITU San Diego race this past Saturday but not only did he breakaway from the breakaway on the bike but he ran his legs off with a blazing 29:30 10K run off the bike!! Now we all know that this Olympic medalist is an amazingly talented triathlete but in reading a recent article about Alistair as he lead up to the race, I started to think about the mental strength of top athletes.

"Brownlee spoke about battling an injury eight months out from London at yesterday’s press conference in San Diego. “A million things were going through my mind, from the moment I got diagnosed with a tear in my Achilles, it doesn’t get much worse, to then actually having it laid out as spending three weeks in a cast,” Brownlee says. “I never gave myself the choice of whether I was going to do it or not…just get on with it and train as hard as I can.
I’m not in the shape from London but I can’t spend my life trying to be in that shape all the time,” Brownlee says. “I have six to eight weeks of training, but I have a massive few months gap from last year to now, so I am just happy to be here and looking forward to racing to see what I have got. I have spent the last few years racing when fit and on form, so this will be nice to see how I go.”


Whether you are an athlete or fitness enthusiast who struggles with injuries or just normal life getting in the way of training/working out, I think there is something really special about mental strength and I feel that as I mentioned above, we spend more of our thoughts thinking the negative instead of staying positive.

I think for many it is scary to be in the moment and to stay positive. It is much  easier to be negative for then we know if we fail, we would have expected it and we can prepare for it. But if I remember correctly, you only miss the shots that you don't take. How do you know that you don't have the potential to make those shots if you don't stay in the positive, be mentally strong and learn from past experiences to prepare for the future?

As you all know (or may not), I work with a mental coach, Gloria who is a clinical sport psychologist and also my friend from the West Coast. She has played a valuable, priceless role in my life over the past few years from helping me with my career, sport performances and overcoming injuries and daily life stressors.

I came across this article called Olympic Mindset: Thinking your way to good results which provided valuable information that I think we can all apply to our daily life. As much as believe in training smarter to train harder, I won't sugarcoat the idea that you have to train hard to succeed. You have to be dedicated, consistent and smart with your approach to pacing, nutrition and all types of recovery but in order to do all of this, you have to be mentally strong.

Because most of you that are reading this are average "normal" athletes and fitness enthusiasts who are not racing for prize money to pay your rent but instead because you love competition, fitness and/or the benefits of being in shape and healthy, we all have to battle obstacles on a daily basis. Life happens and so do missed workouts, stressful days, off eating, restless nights, injuries and travel. Life is not perfect but in our mind, we want it to be and therefore we often count ourselves out when we should be thinking about what we can do to set ourselves up for a better tomorrow. You always want to keep your eye on the final destination but you can't lose sight of the journey. Sadly, in today's society, we things now and when we don't get them now, we get frustrated and feel defeated. But what if you changed your mind in order to succeed?

According to the article on Olympic Mindset, Olympic athletes have the following qualities:

1. Flexible dedication - the ability to first utilize a long-term perspective with regards to goal-setting while simultaneously planning for obstacles. In short, it means that Olympic athletes are able to set their target goals in spite of the fact that they know problems (injuries, etc) will arise along the way

2.  The ability to bounce back-quicker, harder, and better -Nobody deals with losses and setbacks better than Olympic athletes. Resilience-the ability to bounce back from setbacks-is a key characteristic of the mental program of Olympic athletes. Resilience is increased through proper anticipation of obstacles. Olympic athletes understand that life isn't fair, and neither is sport, but they forge ahead despite this knowledge. Why are these athletes better equipped to deal with setbacks and adversity? Because they plan for it, and use failure and obstacles as part of their training. For example, some Olympic athletes, unable to participate due to injury, spend that portion of their training time doing visualization, or biofeedback training instead. Therefore, time that had been allotted for physical training is now used for mental training, and they continue to progress towards their goals-despite their injury.

3. Love of competition:  Olympic athletes are the perfect example of doing something for the pure joy of it. The life of an Olympian, which may seem glamorous, is anything but. Long hours in the gym, long hours recuperating, strict nutritional programs, and hours upon hours spent reviewing tapes are commonplace in the lives of these athletes. The ability to balance family obligations, relationships, academics, and work-in addition to their training needs, sets Olympic athletes apart. The only way they can do this is through love of competition. And this competition is more with themselves than with others. They do it because they love the process of competing with others, and they do it because they are obsessed with bettering themselves. There is no better example of pure love for a sport than those examples evidenced in the Olympic games. This love of competition and self-improvement provides the fuel and motivation when obstacles appear and failure sets in.

I think as an age group or elite athlete or a fitness enthusiast who loves working out, we need to consider these qualities of Olympic athletes or else we will constantly find ourselves defeated before we even see if what we thought was so bad is really that bad. I do believe that life gives us lessons. For every mistake, injury and "off" feeling we can learn and grow. It is then up to you how you move on from it and certainly you don't want your days on Earth to be wasted because things just aren't going the way you planned. Don't forget with every plan A, a plan B should follow.

I love triathlons and I love that I am still learning more about myself as a competitive athlete. I get excited to train and every workout I feel like I get better. It's small gains every day but eventually they add up. I have my share of setbacks but I have learned that if I have the mindset that life is over and my goals will never be reached in my season, I only become weak with my own thoughts. Although it is very very very hard at times, thanks to Gloria's help, I have learned how to stay focused on my goals and to not let set-backs or obstacles slow me down. My own thoughts can slow me down or they can help me power my way through amazing workouts and a healthy relationship with food.

When I wrote my Branson 70.3 run race report I found myself battling thoughts in my head. Something in my mind was trying to tell my body to slow down or that it wasn't possible. But then there was another part in my body that was telling my body that there was no reason to slow down. It was a very strange relationship with my mind and body for 13.1 miles after an incredibly challenging bike course but someone I managed to conquer those negative thoughts and take chances with my mind leading my body to give me the run off my life. Even now, I am finding myself with workouts that should be hard and impossible but someone my body isn't giving me a reason to stop, slow down or surrender. We have so many thoughts on a daily basis, are you going to let your thoughts keep you from taking chances to see what is possible? The worst thing in life is being afraid of failing and not taking the chance to see if you can succeed.

To finish this blog post, I'd like to share an excerpt of a great book called "Mind Gym" by Gary Mack w/ David Casstevens (thanks Gloria!). On pg 108 the chapter is called "You Gotta Believe"

Belief is a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing. Beliefs drive behavior and behaviors affect performance in everything we do. In psychology, the term self-efficacy is the belief in one's own ability to be successful. Simply believing in yourself doesn't mean you're always going to win. But believing in yourself can help enable you to put yourself into a position to win. Belief systems are a big part of confidence. Beliefs that are irrational or unrealistic lead to stress. Let's look at the ABC theory of success and stress. 
A - Activating event. 
B - Belief about the event. 
C - Consequences, feelings and behaviors about the outcome. 
There are several unrealistic or irrational beliefs some athletes have about themselves. Some thing they aren't big enough, strong enough, fast enough or good enough to play at a certain level. My question to them is "Where's the evidence?"
Some have  a belief system that says failure is a shameful thing. In truth, life is based upon failures. If you don't fail you probably aren't challenging yourself enough. If, as babies, we had a fear of failure - if we believe that failure is terrible - we might never learn to walk. Another irrational belief is "If I mess up no one will love me. I'll be rejected." Imagine the pressure that kind of thinking creates. If you believe that by not winning you're a loser, if you believe if you lose no one will love you, if you believe that taking a risk is dangerous, if you believe that not being perfect is unacceptable, these beliefs will only cause upset and trouble in your life. 
One way athletes counter irrational beliefs is through positive affirmations. These affirmations should be  powerful, positive and in the present tense. According to Muhamad Ali "It's a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges and I believe in myself." "To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you are not, pretend you are."

So are you mentally strong enough to succeed? Do you have goals that you want to achieve but your thoughts are keeping you from moving forward? Let your thoughts drive positive behaviors and remove self-defeating thoughts from your mind. Believe in yourself and your ability to succeed. I invite you to spend an entire day tomorrow thinking only positive thoughts. If a negative thought comes into your mind (which it likely will) reframe the thought. Upset you are at work? Be grateful you have a job to buy groceries. Having a bad workout? Be grateful your body is healthy enough to workout. If you can do this for an entire day, it's likely you will find yourself living a day unlike any other.

What your mind can conceive and your heart believe, you can achieve.