Preparing The Mind To Race
Mental Conditioning - Part Four
Part One - Deep Goals, 1000-Day Pacing & The Athlete's Role
Part Two - Arousal Control
Part Three - Aligning Goals, Surfacing Issues & Dealing With Fears
Race Planning & Strategy
One habit to rule all others…
Say What You Want To Have Happen
So…
With regard to your next A-Priority Race…
What do you want to have happen?
Many of us are unsure.
To bring clarity to your thinking, write it down.
Pacing
Hydration
Nutrition
Equipment Lists
Transitions
Contingencies (Issues & Solutions)
Use the headings above to guide your race simulation workouts. Test your strategy well before race day.
Post-race, perform a race review and write down:
Lessons Learned
How Well You Executed vs Plan
Just like your Season Review, the Race Planning / Reviewing cycle is iterative. The idea is not to achieve the perfect day. The idea is to learn from each race experience and avoid repeating errors.
A favorite quote taught to me by Joe Friel…
The difference between a great race and a lousy one… we learn more from a lousy race.
Every workout, every build, every race… is an opportunity to learn.
Race Week
Beware of Goal Inflation - being rested, thinking about racing, arriving at the race venue… it’s easy to lose one’s cool.
To keep yourself grounded:
Review Race Strategy
Reread Prior Race Reports
Remember Why You Signed Up
Having coached thousands of athletes to better outcomes, six tips about pacing:
Have your race strategy focus on effort, not velocity.
You control the effort, not the velocity.
Use Caps
Breathing Rate
Heart Rate
Pace
Power
Early effort should be less than what you’ve proven in training. Regardless, with the excitement of race day, this is likely to prove too intense.
A well-paced race will leave you feeling you could have gone faster, earlier. It’s not a mistake, it is how it feels when you get pacing right.
Prove you can perform, before seeking outperformance.
The “third quarter” is where it makes sense to push. This applies to each leg of a triathlon, and single-sport events.
Other tips about race week:
Under schedule yourself. Allow time for quiet reflection each day.
Avoid sources of drama, whether from people, websites, social media or news sources.
Notice, then ignore, the temptation for one-last-session to test yourself.
Remember that changes in sleep patterns are normal. If you wake-up early then get up, journal for a bit and go for a walk before breakfast. Triathletes, I’ve always enjoyed an early swim followed by breakfast.
Control The Controllables
Racing
What is the mindset you wish to maintain for your race?
Anger?
Focus?
Intensity?
Engaged Awareness?
Quiet Power?
There are no wrong answers, but there might be signs that you’ve been distracted from the task at hand.
Past Focus - thinking about things that have already happened.
Future Focus - worries about the future.
When distracted, seek to bring your mind back to the present. Do this by breaking the race into segments, shorter blocks of focus.
An example is how I approached the Ultraman Hawaii swim. The swim is 10 km, point-to-point, and I counted strokes for hours…
1-2-3 breathe
1-2-3 breathe
1-2-3 breathe
Race focus can, and should be, trained during your key training sessions. Train your mind, just as you train your body.
Focus on what you control.
I’ll end with a tip from Scott Molina…
If your mood changes then eat.
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