ENDURANCE SPORT ARTICLES

Planning and Preparation are the Keys to Endurance Sport Success

The foundation of any type of endurance training is planning and preparation of an effective and comprehensive training program. The time put into this process will often dictate the quality of performances during the competitive season. So this article will look at several ways to help you become optimally prepared for you to perform your very best.

Goal Setting

One of the most widely used techniques to increase motivation and preparedness among endurance athletes is goal setting. Establishing goals at different levels of training and competition will improve commitment and intensity, and provide progressive steps toward realizing your competitive dreams. In order to ensure the value of goal setting, there are several components that must be included in a well-organized goal setting program.

Macro-Goals

Long term goals specify what you ultimately want to achieve in your sports participation. Examples of long term goals include competing in a marathon or attaining a new personal record in a triathlon. These goals should be kept in the back of your mind, but not focused on often.

Seasonal goals indicate what you want to accomplish in the coming season, such as achieving a certain time in a running race or reaching a new level of competition. These goals are important because they will dictate all subsequent goals that you set.

Competitive goals designate how you want to perform in particular events during the season. Competitive goals might include a certain placing to qualify for the next race series or being named to a team. These goals are critical because attaining these goals should lead to reaching your seasonal goals.

Training goals specify what you need to do in your training that will enable your to reach your competitive goals. Training goals might involve increasing leg strength by 10%, working on technique, or learning to control anxiety.

Lifestyle goals indicate what you need to do in your general lifestyle to reach the above goals, for example, develop better sleeping habits or eating better.

As can be seen, these goals are incremental and progressive from the bottom to the top. In other words, the lower goals lead step-by-step to the higher goals.

Goal Guidelines

In setting goals, it is important for you to follow several guidelines to maximize their value. First, goals should be challenging, but realistic and attainable. That is, they should be reachable, but only with hard work.

Second, goals should be specific, measurable, and time-limited. For example, an ineffective goal is “I want to get stronger”, whereas a useful goal is “I want to increase my leg press 20% in the next three months.”

Third, you should focus on the degree, rather than absolute attainment, of your goals. Inevitably, you will not reach all of your goals, but there will always be improvement toward a goal. By emphasizing measurable improvement, changes in performance can be followed and progress can be rewarded.

Finally, your goals should be examined and updated regularly. Some goals may turn out to be too easy and must be made more difficult. Other goals may have been too hard and must be adjusted downward. Also, goal setting is a process, there really is no end. When one goal is reached, a new higher goal should be established.

Micro-Goals

You can improve your motivation and the quality of your training on a daily basis by setting micro-goals. These goals specify exactly what you want to accomplish every time you train. You should ask yourself, “what am I working today?”, before each training session. Micro-goals are an excellent way of helping you put 100% focus and intensity into your training, thus increasing the quality and decreasing the quantity of training.

Importance of Rest

Rest is perhaps the most under-rated training tool at an endurance athlete’s disposal. It is an absolutely critical part of any effective training program, yet it is often over-looked. A common mentality that has emerged from the “nose to the grind” attitude is that more is better, for example, if four miles of running is good, six will be better.

Endurance athletes are conditioned to believe that not training is a sign of weakness. Typical fears about rest held by athletes include “I will get out of shape” and “I am lazy if I don’t train”. Yet, as exercise physiologists have demonstrated, rest following a period of training is the time when the actual physical gains are made. This is when the body, which has been broken down from training, can repair and build itself beyond its previous level. There four clear warning signs of the need for rest: (1) fatigue, (2) loss of enjoyment, interest, and motivation to train, and (3) lingering illness and injury.

Rest as Part of Training and Competition

Rest is as important to competitive preparation as physical and mental training. Rest influences every aspect of your performance: (1) physical condition, (2) mental state, (3) enjoyment in training and competition; and (4) competitive performance.

In addition to the wear-and-tear of training, the pressure of a regular competition schedule and daily stressors unrelated to sports will also wear you down. Regular rest guards against the accumulated long-term effects of the grind of training and the competitive season. Even if you do not feel tired does not mean you do not need rest!

Incorporate Rest into Training

You should make rest a regular part of your training regimen. This can be accomplished in several ways. Mandatory rest days can be scheduled once a week. The Monday after a weekend competition is common. The intensity of training should also be varied depending upon the time of season, the upcoming competition schedule, and how you are feeling. This process, called periodization, is the new wave in training technology.

You should also take extra days off following a stressful period of training or competing. For example, following a series of three competitions in three weeks, you should take off from training for at least three days. Finally, you should plan time off about three weeks before a major series or end of the season competitions. This will ensure that you are fresh and fired up for these competitions.

Finally, one of the most important lessons you must learn is to listen to your body. Our bodies are very good at telling us when we need to back off. The most difficult thing is to be aware of these signals and to act on them.

Responsible Competition Selection

An important part of developing an effective training and competition program is to decide what events you want to compete in during the upcoming season. This decision should be based on a realistic assessment of your training program, what your competitive goals are, and how you may best achieve them.

Why Responsible Competition Selection?

Responsible competition selection is critical because the competitive season is often long and physically demanding. Competing too much can cause fatigue, illness, injury, and burnout. This is especially important because most important competitions are at the end of the season. It is all too common for athletes to say “I can’t wait for these competitions to be over with” or “I am so happy the season is almost over”. This is not a good attitude to have entering key events. Rather, you need to maintain your attitude, motivation, and health in order to perform well to the very end of the season.

When to Compete

Athletes should only compete when a competition meets certain criteria. As a general rule, competitions should serve a specific purpose in fulfilling your seasonal goals. More specifically, first, you should compete when you need more competition experience. Second, you should compete when you need an event for qualification purposes. Third, when you have the opportunity to compete against your peers or to gauge your progress. Finally, keep in mind that competitions should provide positive learning experiences for you that benefit rather hinder your development.

When Not to Compete

You should never compete to build your confidence. Confidence does not come from competing, it comes from sound preparation. Typically then, you will come out of a “confidence-building” competition with less confidence than you had before.

You should never enter a competition because you know you will win. This is, in fact, a no-win situation. If you win, little is gained because you are expected to. If you lose, it can be a severe blow to your confidence.

You should never compete unless you are totally prepared to perform your best. If you are not totally prepared, either physically or mentally, you will not do well and the experience will hurt you.

You should never enter a competition to break out of a slump. If you are in a slump, competing is not the way to get out of it. The pressure you place on yourself to break out of the slump will almost ensure that you will not perform well. Rather, you get out of slumps by relieving yourself of the pressure, understanding why you are in the slump, and, through proper training, progressively raising your level of performance.

Finally, you should never compete for no reason, just for the sake of competing. Invariably, motivation will be low and a poor result will be inevitable.

In sum, you should, in planning your competitive schedule, consider these criteria and carefully select competitions that will facilitate your long-term development. Ultimately, you should follow one basic rule: you should only compete when you have more to gain than lose.

Taylor, J. (1995, June). Planning and preparation – The keys to endurance sports performance. Rocky Mountain Sports, 36-39.

PRE-RACE MANAGEMENT

On race day, the time you spend before your race is the most crucial period of race preparation. All of the hours of training you spend on the roads, trails, in the water or gym may go for naught if you do not use your pre-race time wisely. What you think, feel, and do before a race will dictate how well you perform in the race. This pre-race period should ensure that you are physically and mentally ready to performance your best consistently. All of your energy must be effectively directed toward achieving Prime Performance.

Prime Performance is a concept I developed in reaction to my dislike of the phrase, peak performance. I see two things inherently wrong with peak performance. First, a peak is by nature very narrow, meaning that a high level of performance can not last long. Second, an inevitable part of a peak is the accompanying valley. So peak performance may mean one or two great performances, but also more average or poor performances.

In contrast, Prime Performance denotes a consistently high level of performance across a season. Prime Performance then should be your goal. To achieve Prime Performance, you must do three things before a race: (1) Prepare your equipment; (2) Warm up your body completely and move toward prime intensity; and (3) Have prime confidence and focus. You can ensure this total preparation by actively taking control of your time and space before a race.

Key Pre-Race Factors

Start Area Space. Where you do your pre-race preparation can have an significant impact on your race readiness, particularly in how it affects your race focus. Some athletes are easily distracted by all of the activity in and around the start area. The competitors, officials, and support people can draw your focus away from your preparation and putting on your “race face,” resulting in inadequate readiness and poor race performance. If this describes you, it is important for you to get away from this hub of activity and move off by yourself. By doing so, you can focus on what you need to in order to get ready.

Other athletes are focused too inwardly, too aware of their thoughts, emotions, and how their body feels. This self-absorption usually results in negative thinking, increased anxiety, poor race focus, and subpar performance. If this describes you, it is best for you to stay around the start area activity. This draws your narrow focus outside yourself and, at the same time, allows you to focus sufficiently on your pre-race preparation.

Who to Interact With? Another critical influence on your pre-race readiness is who you interact with prior to the start. You should only be around people who will assist you in your preparation including support staff, coaches, and teammates/competitors who help you become totally ready. You should actively avoid anyone who interferes with this process including chatty competitors, officials giving unwanted race information, and media.

In sum, specify what you need to do to be totally prepared to perform your best, decide where you can best accomplish your preparation, and identify who can assist and who will interfere with your preparation. With this information, you can develop an effective pre-race routine to ensure total preparation and Prime Performance.

Pre-Race Routines

Why Pre-Race Routines? Routines have many benefits to your pre-race preparation. They guarantee completion of every important aspect of race preparation. Routines build physical, mental, and emotional consistency. They enhance familiarity of competitive situations and decrease the likelihood of unexpected things occurring. Routines increase feelings of control, thereby raising confidence and reducing anxiety. Regardless of the importance of race, by using a well-practiced routine, you will condition your mind and body into feeling that this is just another race.

Routines vs. Rituals. The goal of routines is to totally prepare you for your race. Everything done in a routine serves a specific function in preparing yourself. Routines are flexible; adjustments can be made to adapt to the situation, for example, a delay at the start. So you control routines. In contrast, rituals control you. Rituals involve anything that does not have a specific purpose in race preparation. Rituals are inflexible and superstitious. Rituals must be done or you will not believe that you can perform well. Seek out routines and avoid rituals!

Prime Performance Funnel. A pre-race routine acts as a funnel, which involves a narrowing of effort, energy, and focus as you approach the start of the race. Each step closer to the race should lead you to that unique state of readiness in which you are physically, mentally, and emotionally primed to perform your best. What will emerge from this funnel is Prime Performance.

Components of a Pre-Race Routine. Your pre-race routine should comprise everything that you need to do to be totally prepared for your race. This includes meals (e.g., carbo loading), course inspection (e.g., race tactics), equipment (e.g., bike properly tuned), physical warm-up (e.g., run, stretch, adjust intensity), and mental preparation (e.g., mental imagery, positive thinking, race focus).

Developing a Pre-Race Routine. Though the above factors are common to most if not all pre-race routines, there is no one ideal routine that works for everyone. In other words, routines are very personal. They should reflect your own individual personality and style.

In order to develop an effective personalized pre-race routine, you can use the following guidelines. First, write down what you need to do before a race to be totally prepared. Second, using your knowledge of pre-race activities and start area space, order your needs chronologically leading up to the start of the race and specify where each step of your routine can be best accomplished. Third, experiment with your routine at subsequent events. You will probably have to fine tune it until you find a routine that you are completely comfortable with. Finally, routines only have value if used consistently. If you ask top athletes about their routines, most will describe one that they have been using for years. So make a routine a part of your race preparation and it will assist you in achieving your own Prime Performance.

Taylor, J. (1995, November). Pre-race management: Assuring total preparation. Rocky Mountain Sports, 36-37.

MASTERING PAIN IN ENDURANCE SPORT
TRAINING AND COMPETITION

Mariel is a 27-year-old world-class triathlete. Though consistently in the top ten of major competitions, she has not been able to break through to a top-three finish. In addition to being an outstanding physical specimen seemingly made for triathlon competition, she is a hard worker. However, over the past year, in attempting to make the leap into the highest echelon of competition, she has come to realize that the one thing that is holding her back the most is the extreme pain she feels during training and competition, and her inability to overcome it.

Pain is, without a doubt, the most pervasive obstacle to achieving the greatest gains in training and the best competitive performance possible in endurance sports. Pain has profound physical, psychological, and emotional effects on endurance athletes. Yet, despite this importance, athletes spend little time educating themselves about pain, how it impacts them, and how they can best manage it. There is, in fact, considerable scientific evidence that some simple psychological techniques can significantly increase athletes’ pain tolerance.

Differentiating Pain

The first step in mastering pain is for endurance athletes to differentiate between performance pain and warning pain. Performance pain is typically perceived as dull, more generalized, does not last long after exertion in training or competition, there is an absence of localized swelling or tenderness, and there is no long-lasting soreness. In contrast, warning pain is felt as sharp, localized to a specific area, experienced during and after exertion, and there is swelling, tenderness, and prolonged soreness.

The experiences of the two types of pain during training and competition can lead to different perceptions and responses. Endurance athletes usually view performance pain as positive, short in duration, produced voluntarily, and can be reduced at will. The reaction to performance pain can involve feelings of satisfaction and inspiration, positive emotions, and can facilitate performance and enhance athletes’ overall sense of well-being. Conversely, endurance athletes perceive warning pain as negative, chronic, uncontrollable, and signally danger to their physical health. These perceptions can cause a loss of confidence and motivation to train and compete, and increased anxiety about the cause of the pain.

Pain as Information

Typically, pain is viewed as an unpleasant experience meant to be avoided. However, pain serves a valuable purpose as information that endurance athletes can use in their training and competitive performances. By understanding the pain they experience, athletes can then act appropriately to manage their pain effectively. Pain provides athletes with information about their training schedules (e.g., overtraining), their training intensity (too high), the amount of rest they have (e.g., not enough), and the presence of injuries (e.g., serious and chronic).

With a clear understanding of the type of pain they are experiencing, endurance athletes can use a variety of pain mastery techniques to control pain in training and competition. Pain mastery techniques can be classified into two general categories: pain reduction and pain focusing.

Pain Reduction Techniques

Pain reduction techniques act directly on the physiological aspects of the pain, decreasing the actual amount of pain that is present. Specifically, they work to reduce sympathetic nervous system activity such as norepinephrine release, shallow breathing and muscle tension, that increases the experience of pain. This is accomplished by inducing greater states of relaxation.

Pain reduction techniques that are commonly used during and following training and competition include deep breathing, muscle relaxation, and therapeutic massage.

Deep breathing. Perhaps the simplest, most essential, yet most neglected technique to reduce pain is deep breathing. Pain inhibits breathing, lessens blood flow, and causes muscle tension and bracing, which worsens pain. Deep breathing diminishes pain by transporting sufficient oxygen throughout the body, relaxing muscles, and decreasing generalized sympathetic nervous system activity. Deep breathing also acts as a distraction. If patients are focused on their breathing, they will be paying less attention to their pain.

Deep breathing can be incorporated into many aspects of training and competition. Focusing on deep breathing during intensive training sessions or difficult parts of a competition such as the 20-mile mark of a marathon can ensure that athletes reduce the pain they are experiencing, thereby improving performance.

Muscle relaxation. Muscle tension and bracing in response to pain is common among endurance athletes. It is often seen in tight neck and shoulders muscles of cyclists, or a clenching of the fists and arms of distance runners. Two types of muscle relaxation techniques, passive and active relaxation, can be used during training and competition to relieve muscle tension that further exacerbates pain. Passive relaxation involves simply focusing on the tense muscles and, with a series of deep breath, feeling the tension drain out of the muscles and becoming increasingly more relaxed.

Active relaxation, seemingly counterintuitive, consists of tensing the muscles even more than they currently are, then relaxing them. The muscles’ responses to this tensing and relaxing pattern is to rebound past its previous level of tension to a more relaxed state. Active relaxation is a technique that I have used with marathoners with whom I have worked. I encourage them to make active relaxation a regimented part of their training and competitive routines. Specifically, in training, at each mile marker, they practice active relaxation to prevent muscle tension due to pain. When they get to a race, this procedure has become habit, so they do it automatically to reduce muscle tension and ease pain.

Muscle relaxation training is also a comforting tool following training and competition when pain is high and resources to manage the pain are low. By using the muscle relaxation exercises at the end of training and races, pain will be decreased and a general sense of physical comfort and well-being will be returned.

Therapeutic massage. Therapeutic massage is another useful strategy for relieving post-training and race pain. Therapeutic massage breaks the pain-spasm-pain cycle through manipulation and relaxation of the involved muscles. Therapeutic massage is commonly used by world-class athletes and received considerable attention during Michael Johnson’s quest for double gold medals in Atlanta.

Pain Focusing Techniques

Pain focusing techniques involve directing attention onto (association) or away from (dissociation) the pain as a means of reducing or altering the awareness of pain. Thus, they do not have a direct physiological effect on the pain, but rather decrease the perception of pain. Pain focusing strategies are comprised of external focus, rhythmic cognitive activity, dramatic coping, and situational assessment.

External focus. External focus involves directing attention externally away from the experience of pain. Examples of external focus include looking at the scenery during a training ride or focusing on runners ahead in a 10k race. It is believed that if athletes are not paying attention to their pain, they will perceive the pain as less discomforting.

Rhythmic cognitive activity. This technique involves focusing on a repetitious or structured task. Rhythmic cognitive activity is commonly used by runners and cyclists in the form of counting breaths, strides, or pedal revolutions. By becoming absorbed in the repetition of these tasks, athletes are less aware of the pain they are experiencing.

Dramatic coping. Dramatic coping consists of putting the pain in a different context, in this case, seeing training and competitive pain as part of a grand challenge. Putting pain in a heroic context can be real or imagined. For example, a marathoner training for the Olympics is, indeed, challenging the pain in pursuit of an Olympic berth. Similarly, a weekend cyclist can imagine during a training ride that he is competing in the Tour de France, thus making the pain he is experiencing seem a worthy sacrifice. Dramatic coping can be further facilitated with the use of emotionally powerful music, such as the scene in the movie, “Rocky,” in which the fighter runs through the city to the steps of the Museum of Fine Art with the inspirational music playing in the background.

Situational assessment. This technique involves evaluating the causes of pain and using that information to make adjustments to relieve the pain. Situational assessment is an essential tool for endurance athletes in their training and competitive performances. Used extensively by long distance runners, situational assessment allows athletes to recognize the presence of pain and identify its source. Potential sources of pain in endurance sports can include too fast a swimming stroke turnover, too quick a pedaling cadence, inadequate pace adjustment on an uphill running section, or the occurrence of an injury such as a pulled calf muscle. Active steps can then be taken to control the pain in several ways depending upon whether it is performance or warning pain. First, in response to performance pain, an adjustment can be made related to the cause. For example, pace or cadence can be modified to reduce the pain. Alternatively, the pain mastery techniques described above can be used to reduce the performance pain. Second, to address warning pain, performance intensity can be lessened, or training or competition can be halted to prevent aggravation of an injury.

Increased understanding of the presence of pain can be an invaluable tool to maxmize performances. Through a process of awareness and control, endurance athletes can learn to acknowledge pain, identify its type, and directly reduce the experience and perception of pain in training and competition.

Taylor, J. (1997, August). Mastering pain in endurance sport training and competition. Rocky Mountain Sports, 22,24.

BUILDING CONFIDENCE FOR THE LONG HAUL

Confidence is perhaps the most important mental factor in sports. Athletes may have the phsyical ability to run a marathon, cycle a 100k race, or complete the Ironman, but if they do not believe they have that ability, they will not use it to achieve their goals. In its simplest form, confidence is how strongly you believe you can perform at a certain level or under difficult conditions, maintain a pace, compete against particular opponents, or win.

Confidence is so essential because not only does it impact performance directly, but it also affects every other mental factor related to performance. Consider times when you have not had much confidence. People without confidence are typically very negative. They say things like, “I can’t do this,” or “I know I’m going to lose.” These athletes are their own worst enemies. This negativity leads to a vicious cycle of low confidence and performance in which the low confidence leads to poor performance which reinforces the low confidence which results in even poorer performance, etc.

Athletes without confidence also experience excessive anxiety. If you know you are good at something, there is no reason to be nervous. But if you don’t believe you will perform well, then there is a good reason to be anxious. Negative emotions are also common in athletes with little confidence. Depression, anger, and frustration are just a few of the detrimental emotions that you have probably felt and that interfere with good performance.

Low confidence typically results in poor focus, in which you are so focused on the negatives that you can not focus on what you need to in order to perform well. All of this negativity leads to low motivation and lack of enjoyment. If you are thinking negatively, caught in the vicious cycle, very nervous, feeling depressed, angry, and frustrated, and can not focus, you are probably not having much fun out there. With all this negativity, you will not have confidence for the long haul.

If you don’t have much confidence, don’t despair. A misconception that many athletes have is that confidence is inborn; you have it or you don’t and, if not, you can never get it. But confidence is a skill, much like physical skills, that can be learned. The reason you may have little confidence and are very negative is not because you were born that way. Rather, you are so negative because you have practiced negative thinking and have become very skilled at it. To develop confidence and positive thinking skills, you must become aware of how you think, control your thinking by being more positive, and practice confidence and positive thinking until the skills becomes ingrained and automatic.

Prime Confidence

Your goal in building your confidence is to develop prime confidence. Prime confidence is a deep, lasting, and resilient belief in your ability to achieve your goals. Prime confidence keeps you positive, motivated, intense, and focused at all times. It enables you to perform your best consistently. Prime confidence also allows you to view pressure situations as challenges not threats, and encourages you to seek out and master them. Prime confidence will last you for the long haul.

Confidence Challenge

It’s easy to stay confident when you’re performing well. But an inevitable part of sports is that you will have ups and down. What separates the best from the rest is what you do when you are in a down period. This is the Confidence Challenge.

Most athletes, when they are not performing well, lose confidence and get caught in the vicious cycle of low confidence and poor performance described earlier. But the most confident athletes may go through the same down period, but they maintain their confidence, keep motivated, and seek ways to return to a high level of performance. The Confidence Challenge is not getting dragged down even further. The Confidence Challenge is maintaining your confidence and turning it into an upward spiral in which confidence and performance rise back to a high level.

Building Prime Confidence

Building confidence is a process that takes time and effort, much like the process you go through to improve your technical skills and develop your physical conditioning. You can build your confidence for the long haul by making three things a part of your training and competition: sound preparation, Mental Edge skills, and competitive success.

Sound Preparation. It is impossible to just go out and win to build your confidence. Rather, in order to win, you must be well-prepared. If you have done everything possible to prepare yourself to perform your best, you will have laid the foundation for prime confidence.

This illustrates the importance of a comprehensive and effective training program. Your physical training regimen must be rigorous enough so that when you enter an event, you truly believe you are as well-conditioned as you can be. You must also be as technically skilled and tactically ready for your upcoming event. Concern about technical deficiencies and tactical worries will only reduce your confidence. Finally, you must be mentally prepared to compete. You have to be highly motivated, relaxed, and focused, as well as confident, to ensure that you perform up to your ability. Mental preparation should also be a regular part of your training program.

Two additional tools to build your confidence in training are choosing winning role models and training for adversity. Choose athletes who you admire and emulate things they do to give themselves confidence, e.g., attitude toward training and competition, work ethic, intensity, etc. You should also constantly expose yourself to adverse conditions. Much like the Confidence Challenge, by subjecting yourself to difficult conditions, you are training yourself to learn to respond positively to common obstacles. So when you experience adversity in competition, whether rain, wind, or cold water, you will know how to master the challenge.

Mental Edge skills. The way you think and how you respond to competitive situations, whether positively or negatively, is a skill that develops with practice. To ensure that you react positively, you must train your mind and practice thinking positively. Negative thinking is perhaps the greatest barrier to success in sports. So it is important to retrain your thinking in a more positive direction so you will have confidence for the long haul.

The first technique you can master is Talk the Talk, which involves saying positive things about yourself and your performances. When athletes are asked how they will perform in an upcoming event, many will say things like, “I may do okay,” “I don’t know how I will do,” or even worse, “I’m going to do really lousy today.” With that attitude, you are sure to fail. You must learn to give a positive response to this question: “I will do my best today,” “I’m going to try my hardest,”, or I’m going to have a lot of fun today.” Saying these positive things will boost your confidence, generate positive emotions,and enable you to relax, all of which will improve your performance.

Another way to retrain negative thinking is with thought-stopping. This technique involves becoming aware of when you say something negative and immediately replacing it with something positive. For example, you start to say, “I’m not feeling good today”, right away say “STOP” or “POSITIVE,” and replace it with “I will do the best I can with what I have today.” To facilitate the use of thought-stopping make a list of negative things you commonly say to yourself and the situations in which you say them. Then next to each negative statement, write a positive one that you can replace it with. This process will increase your awareness of your thinking and give you the means to retrain your thinking in a positive direction.

The last technique for retraining the way you think and building confidence is the Athlete’s Litany (see below). The litany is a group of positive statements aimed at training positive thinking. By saying the Athlete’s Litany regularly, you learn and ingrain a new way to think. So when you get into tough situations, your well-trained and automatic response will be to think positively. Repeat the litany when you get up in the morning, before training and competition, and when you get into bed at night. When saying your litany, you must say it like you mean it. Even if you don’t believe it at first, if you say it convincingly, in time you will begin to believe it, especially if you combine it with sound preparation and the final way to build confidence for the long haul.

ATHLETE’S LITANY

I LOVE TO COMPETE.

I AM A GREAT ATHLETE.

I ALWAYS THINK AND TALK POSITIVELY.

I ALWAYS PUT 100% FOCUS AND INTENSITY INTO MY TRAINING AND COMPETITION.

I EXPECT TO BE CHALLENGED AND THAT’S OKAY,

BECAUSE I KNOW HOW TO HANDLE IT.

I AM CONFIDENT, RELAXED, AND FOCUSED WHEN I COMPETE.

IF I GIVE MY BEST EFFORT, I AM A WINNER.

Competitive Success. The best and most direct way to build confidence is through successful competitive success. This approach to developing confidence is the final piece of the confidence “puzzle.” By having engaged in sound preparation and practiced the Mental Edge skills, you are more likely to have success in competition, which will reinforce and expand on the confidence you had built to that point. So be sure, in planning your competitive schedule and setting your race goals, that you give yourself ample opportunity to succeed.

What will result from this understanding of how confidence impacts your performance and how you can develop it is an upward spiral in which your training, positive thinking, and competitive successes feed on each other to create ever-increasing confidence and performance. So when you go out to run, cycle, or swim, you will have built confidence for the long haul.

Taylor, J. (1997). Building confidence for the long haul. Rocky Mountain Sports.