Arousal Control
Mental Conditioning - Part Two
After finishing the Run Section of the eBook, let’s return to Mental Conditioning.
In Part One, we explored three questions:
What is a 1000-day mindset?
What is the athlete’s role in the process?
Related, I’ve written two articles on True Wealth:
These articles, and the continuing series, will help you consider where sport fits into your larger life.
The links above will help you focus on the big picture, where sport fits in your larger life.
Today, I want to dig down to the micro level and discuss the first lesson I teach to athletes.
Let’s start with a favorite quote from Mark Allen:
I realized that just because I started making a mistake, didn’t mean I needed to continue.
Mark’s observation can apply to many things…
A bag of cookies or potato chips
Spontaneous tempo during an endurance workout
Turning a group training session into a race
Losing our temper when stressed out at a group swim session
Ignoring elevated heart rate metrics
Tacking on volume, when injury prone
The fundamental teaching is we are free to choose our response.
Time will teach us the appropriate response to the situation. This article is about teaching ourselves the capacity to respond, and change.
Putting this another way… knowing “what to do” is meaningless without the capacity to do.
Free To Choose
The Gap Between Stimulus & Response
Start by choosing a low-stakes situation, but one where you have a habit of overreacting, or self-sabotage.
Warm-Up
Masters Swim Practice
Group Riding
Well-Rested Endurance Training
Post-Race Training
Pick one environment and work on one thing.
Ideas that match up to the environments above:
I will make the first ten minutes of my workout the easiest.
I’m going to swim down a lane and stay cool.
I’m not going to react to any surges.
When well-rested, I’m going to do an easy endurance day and not test myself.
I’m going to enjoy my post-race period.
I recommend you write down your goal and tell one person what you’re trying to do.1
Once you know the pattern you are seeking to change, put yourself in the environment and practice. On the days you fall short, pay attention to how you were feeling before you fell into your previous habit pattern.
Was there a narrowing of focus
A change in breathing pattern
A surprise encounter
Feelings can provide an early-warning system for falling into a habitual response.
If you’re unsuccessful then lower the stakes further. Find a less stressful environment and try again.
If you’re successful then, over time, increase the stakes.
What do I mean by “stakes?”
Noise
Fatigue
Crowds
Emotional Stress
Spectators
To be clear, the goal here is not to learn how to:
Start Slow
Swim Slower
Get Dropped
Avoid Tempo
Rest
Those actions may, or may not, be required for success.
The goal is to take a habit and train the ability to choose a different reaction. We do this by inserting, and reinforcing, a gap between stimulus and response.
This skill is essential for endurance performance. You will be repaid in faster race times, fewer injuries and less time lost to injury.
This gap is extremely useful in our larger lives. Once we can address our patterns in sport, we can apply new skills in our larger lives.
I am Free to Choose
My Response to any situation
And Change Direction
At Any Time
Start small and build your circle of control wider and wider.
We are building confidence in our ability to choose our response.
Success in training our minds enables us to cope with the inevitable challenges along our Endurance Journey.
Part Three: Aligning Goals & Managing Fear
Return To Table of Contents
I’ve been at this game for 20+ years and publish my goals. If you are new to keeping small promises then keep the stakes low and your goals semi-private.