Last month, I was fortunate enough to receive a free entry into the iconic Escape from Alcatraz triathlon to be held on June 11th. I accepted the entry with a sense of both excitement and a bit of trepidation. I’ve done Alcatraz four times before, but the last time was in 2008, just before I [...]
When you read the title, you may have had a double take, “A mental coach is telling me to accept my negativity? How can that be?” I realize that my statement is counterintuitive but let me show you why accepting your negativity is actually the best thing to do whenever anything unhelpful enters your mind. [...]
Have you ever thought about how incredibly difficult it is to be a triathlete? So many factors affect how well and how fast you can swim, bike, whether in training or races. And, one small mistake or failure in any one of those many areas will result in a disappointing result with little to no [...]
If you're not convinced of the value of mental training as a powerful tool to improve performance in sports and other achievement areas, I encourage you to listen to this podcast by Dr. Andrew Huberman that explores the science behind mental training. If you're unfamiliar with Dr. Huberman, he's a noted neuroscientist and a member [...]
As I wrote about in a previous article, the most common means of assessing how your training is going is how your body feels. If your body feels good (e.g., rested, illness and injury free, sleeping well), keep pushing. If your body doesn’t feel good (e.g., tired, hungry, sore, sick, injured), then it’s time to [...]
As I noted in my last “I Practice What I Preach” post, I was feeling a fair amount of anxiety and worry in the weeks leading up to the 2023 USAT Multisport National Championships in Texas that was held less than two weeks ago. Those nerves were coming from “outcome expectations” I had created in [...]
Road.cc, the highly respected cycling website, just published a very complimentary review of my latest book, The Complete Guide to Cycling Psychology, co-written with Mark Beaumont, the world's greatest adventure cyclist. Highlights of the review: Insightful read for both recreational and competitive cyclists, combining theory and real-life examples Well structured – split into manageable sections [...]
With COVID-19 in our rearview mirror this past race season, ski racing in the U.S. and worldwide returned to some semblance of normalcy, with training and race opportunities again in abundance. Unfortunately, at the same time, another global problem, namely, climate change, has made training and racing more challenging, with too much snow in the [...]
Let’s begin with an exercise: I don’t want you to think about a pink elephant. What did you do? Well, you thought of a pink elephant, of course. But don’t think about a pink elephant, don’t think about a pink elephant, don’t think about a pink elephant! Does that help you not think about a [...]
In two recent posts, I discussed the training and race situations in which you want to listen to your body and when you want to ignore your body. In this article, I’m going to share with you some ideas about listening to your mind. I’ve just finished my fifth week of a six-week high-volume, high-intensity [...]
