Hey Reader,

“Most people walk to the start line as if they’re about to go over the trenches,” says Simon Marshall, sports psychologist, in today’s episode of The Infirmary, and he’s not far off. Race week can be a minefield of difficult emotions and thoughts, each one able to derail your performance. Can you remember the dread you might have felt ahead of your last event? Worries about the water temperature, the clash of limbs you know you’ll experience when the swim starts, the old athletic fears “What if I get dropped? What if I don’t finish? What if I come in last?” all thumping around your brain like an unbalanced dryer load.

Remember that thoughts lead to feelings, and feelings lead to behavior. Since that’s a well-established fact of performance, whether in the sports world or not, we need to respect our thoughts, understand them, and not try to control them, all while not letting them control us! Remember that there is nothing objectively good or bad—we assign “good” or “bad” based on our thinking, and if something is “bad” then it will trigger “negative” emotions (I put negative in quotes, there, because I just pointed out there is no objective good or bad, but there are feelings that can help us…less when we’re trying to do something difficult). Here’s an example thought pattern of someone who is getting “dropped” (can’t keep up) in a race:

Obviously this is not a helpful thinking → feeling → behaving pattern, one that can and will get us into trouble on race day. Today we’re going to talk about three tactics that can help you ride the emotions of race week, so you can arrive at the start line psyched up…not psyched out.

1. Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Let Roam
2. A Pre-race Routine Doesn’t Mean Just Race Day (although do that, too)
3. Anxiety and Excitement = Same Thing

Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Let Roam

What’s the worst thing that could actually happen? Name it so we can get above it and see it for what it is worth. If we don’t get clear on the fear and see it for what it is, it will remain hidden behind us like a shadow, directing our movements...[read more]​

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I've had two coaching spots open up as athletes achieve their goals. If you are interested in chatting with me about what coaching looks like, you can book a free 45-minute training analysis. I'll look at what your current training is doing for you, offer you suggestions, and, if you're interested, tell you what working together might look like. It's a no-sale conversation, where you get 45 minutes of free, personalized attention. Why not?

Thanks for reading! See you next week,

Chris