Yesterday we began took a look at what it takes to become a mentally bullet-proof animal on race day (read Part One here). In the second-part of this article we examine four more problems and how to overcome them.
Problem 5: Maintaining Focus While Racing
Maintaining focus while racing Did my mum come to cheer? Is that my mum? Squirrel!
Solved: “The first thing you want to do is make a plan for the race,” Haberl says. Part of that plan should focus on a specific point in the race that you think will be difficult. “You want to be aware of the specific thoughts that undermine confidence.” Staying focused will help with confidence, Haberl says, “because once you stop pay- ing attention to what’s going on in the race, you stop pay- ing attention to your form. Paying attention to your form will be much more conducive to racing well than having a debate in your head.”
Also, try using cue words. “When you’re racing, and you start to feel something that’s distracting, or feel confidence fade, you want to have the ability to make a mental transition to get you back into your flow,” Carr says. “In other words, you don’t want to completely get off of the interstate at an exit; you want to get off at a rest stop, and come right back on.” Cues—words or mantras that keep you focused and present—can help. It’s as simple as repeating a few bon mots to yourself whenever you need them. You might tell yourself, “just chill,” on the swim, or “strong and smooth” on the bike to induce optimal cadence and power.
PRO TIP: Cue Words: Van Vlerken recently tattooed the word “gratitude” on her left wrist to remind her of how lucky she is to be racing. She’s also placed run course signs broad- casting the same word for inspiration.
Problem 6: Keeping Up Race-day Confidence
I must be last after that terrible swim. My legs hurt more than they should. I dropped a Gel—I’m going to bonk!
Solved: Stay positive. “If you put negative thoughts in your mind, then they’re more likely to be predictive and accurate,” Carr says. Walker agrees. “Every time a negative thought enters your head, you’ll contract your muscle fibres, and you won’t have the same body out there as you did in training,” she says.
Whenever a negative thought begins to creep in, replace it with a positive one. Got a flat? That’s OK, you’re a whiz at fixing flats! A few other strategies: “Remind yourself of the body parts that feel good,” Walker says. Or try counting your steps.
And just as you might during a big workout, break the race into pieces, then remind yourself you’ll soon be moving on to the next discipline.
PROTIP: Positive Self-Talk “I remember specific training sessions when I had an awesome day,” says Thomas, who added a sports psychologist to his training arsenal in 2013. “This year during Wildflower, I used ‘4:38,’ the time of the mile I ran at the end of a big interval long run. During the entire run, I told myself, ‘Nobody can do that!’”
Problem 7: Disappointment
You trained for an entire year and didn’t hit your race goals.
Solved: “There’s no such thing as a bad race,” Haberl says—just a learning opportunity. “Analyse the point in the race where you perhaps lost focus, you lost drive, you lost motivation, and learn from those moments.”
Walker once worked with a triathlete who had always dreamed of going to Hawaii. When he finally raced in Kona, he bonked so badly on the run that he couldn’t finish. Afterward, “he was literally clinically depressed, because he worked so hard to get to that place,” Walker says. How to recover from a similarly big upset? “Make sure you’re talking to other people, finding support. Then go ahead and set that next goal.”
Remember, Carr says, “One of the beauties of sport is that, in the effort itself, you’ve accomplished a lot of great goals. The mere fact that you’re competing is a success in itself.”
Problem 8: Injury
Being sidelined can be mentally taxing, particularly when social activities revolve around training—and endorphin levels, race plans and your fitness all take a hit.
Solved: Haberl recommends looking at examples of other athletes who have had similar injuries, and how they coped. Gnarly bike crash? See: Meredith Kessler. Chronic back pain? See: Craig Alexander.
“Bring the same focus and the same intensity to your rehab work that prior to the injury you would have brought to your training,” Haberl says. That includes setting goals adjusted to your injury, Carr adds, “without feeling failure or a negative self-concept because of an uncontrollable circumstance.”
Problem 9: Equipment Envy
If only your bike were a kilogramme lighter, you’d be so much faster.
Solved: Again, cut it out with the negative self-talk. “Do you think anyone in the his- tory of triathlon has ridden a fast bike split on a slower bike?” Carr asks. “Well, it’s because they didn’t perceive themselves negatively on that piece of equipment.” Need proof? MarkAllenOnline co-founder Luis Vargas once clocked a 4:56 in Kona on a steel-framed beast that weighed 10.5 kilogrammes.
