Stacey Richardson’s Weekly Workout Tip:
Mind/body as one…
Over the weekend, my athletes again taught me a lot about their racing, training, and mind-body connections. Great coaches learn from their athletes as well as teach them. Sign me up to be one of those…
My athletes who raced again reminded me of the power of the mind and connecting it to breakthrough performances. Achieving those breakthroughs means that you master the mind/body combination. This connection can enhance everything we do if we let it, but it seems the most triathletes ignore this connection and just train those tired bodies to oblivion. Here are three tips for you to unite your mind and body. Try them out and write me to dispute, affirm, or edit them. : )
1. Trust yourself. Stand on the start line full of certainty, confidence, and a great race plan. Choosing to believe in yourself when your nerves are taking control is the best way to manage them. Be certain about your preparation and race mindfully, with humility, but quietly knowing that you OWN it.
2. Race the race but know your limits. Your limits of pace, nutrition, open water experience, tenacity on the run, wattage, etc. You have these limits and you also need to question how you established them. Are they real or is your brain stopping you before you achieve a breakthrough performance?
3. Dare to test those limits. The greatest athletes in the world have learned through failure and perhaps you could, too. Being fearless on the race course means minding your race plan and following wattage parameters, etc. But it also means knowing when to race the race and be in the moment. Daring to race the race with a lot of science and thought before-hand could yield you the greatest race results of you career. Of course it could lead to failure, but how else would you know the limits of your talent?
Trust yourself to establish, respect and to exceed your limits. Make your mind/body unison the secret weapon of your 2012 season and trust that you will succeed. I know you will.
