Introduction
For most triathletes, elites and age groupers alike, the sport’s mental game is just as daunting as its physical challenges. In fact, the two aspects of the athlete's behavior are not as separate as one might expect. Cutting edge research suggests that there is a brain process -- the central regulator -- that forces us to hold back, slow down, even stop, in spite of our intense desire to continue. (For more I recommend Alex Hutchinson’s book, Endure - Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Endurance.)
I will argue that the more significant mental challenges amateur athletes face are far less esoteric. Long before we reach the point where our central regulator is demanding that we slow down, we need to have a successful training season, arrive at the start line ready to race, and survive the swim.
The list of negative thoughts that can impair our success is endless. Fortunately there are a few broad common categories.
I don’t belong here.
Having spent much of my youth as a musician I occasionally dreamt about being a musician. Those dreams were never about rocking out in front of an adoring audience, despite having had that experience on many occasions. No, the only dream scenario I recall involved me sitting in a section of the orchestra where I did not belong. I would be holding a clarinet, knowing that I was expected to play it, that any moment now the conductor would throw me a cue and expect me to play. Except I did not play clarinet. Not at all. I’m sure you can imagine how relieved I was when I woke up and realized I did not have to play clarinet.
I had a similar experience at the start line of my first triathlon. Standing on the beach in my fancy new tri kit and age group colored swim cap, race numbers written on my arm and leg, surrounded by men and women who obviously had done this before. Add to that the fact that I could barely swim and had only covered 750 yards -- this was a sprint distance race -- once or twice in my life. I felt every ounce of discomfort as I did sitting in the clarinet section.
Only, there was one big difference. I had a pretty good idea what was happening, and I was confident that I could finish the swim, have an excellent bike segment, and end with a decent run. I didn't even know how to hold a clarinet, but I knew how to swim, bike, and run. At least enough to finish.
How is it that I was feeling raw terror and feeling calm at the same time? This puzzled me until I learned that our brains operate in three distinct ways, all at the same time. There is the Chimp brain, the source of powerful, often negative emotions like fear based on instincts and drives, whose goal is to keep us alive. Then there is the Professor brain, which deals with facts, truth, and logic. Finally there is the Computer brain, which takes orders from the Chimp and Professor and runs stored programs. Standing there at the start line my Chimp was going berserk telling me I was in terrible risk of failing and making a fool of myself, while my Professor brain kept reminding me that I knew what I was doing and capable of surviving. Meanwhile my Computer brain was executing the pre-race routine I had practiced many times, racking my bike, setting up my gear, doing a warm up jog, listening to the announcer to make sure I entered the start chute with the correct group. The Computer brain was about to play an even more critical role, playing back the millions of instructions it had recorded during training that allowed me to execute all of the muscle movements necessary to swim, bike, and run.
I only picked up this nomenclature -- Chimp, Professor, and Computer -- recently when I heard about a book in a TrainingPeaks podcast, “Coach Cast” Season 2, Episode 15. The book is titled The Brave Athlete, Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion, by Simon Marshall, PhD and Lesley Paterson. I had only made it through the first bit when I got to hear their keynote talk at Endurance Coaching Summit 2020. Their approach is simple. In their words the book “... is about recognizing which brain is in charge and then doing some brain wrangling to get the right brain for the job back in control.” Highly recommended.
I am not prepared, and its cousin, I am not doing enough work.
Your goal is to arrive at the start line fit and ready to race your best. Not struggling with a spate of injuries. Not carrying a load of fatigue. To arrive ready to race you must follow a carefully crafted training plan. No more. No less. No different.
There are two limits to how much training you can do, available time, and how much stress your body can absorb. Most people outside the sport refuse to believe they could find the time to train. Many age groupers believe they would perform much better if they did not need to work full time and could train all day. You do not have to search very hard to find plenty of successful age groupers who hold down a job and find time for family life.
You need trust in your plan combined with an honest assessment of your ability. Just because you want to race a sub 10 hour Ironman does not mean you can just decide one day to achieve that goal. Set a reasonable goal, make a plan to get there, and race to the best of your ability. When you trust your plan you will find it much easier to calm your panicky Chimp.
Investing in mindfulness
We usually think of a training plan as a series of workouts designed to stress a variety of muscles and energy systems in order to improve performance. To reap the benefit of this stress we need periods of rest. Sleep is by far the best form of rest, but there is another tool we can use in addition to sleep to balance out the negative aspects of training stress. Call it mindfulness. Call it meditation. Call it breathing exercises.
I happen to like the Yoga With Adriene series for flexibility practice. If you do not already have a preferred method please consider using some of her videos focused on mindfulness. Here are a few.
Yoga With Adriene
Classroom Meditation - For All Ages!
7 Min Meditation to Start Your Day
Yoga for Anxiety - 20 Minute Practice
The important thing is to schedule these sessions and practice these techniques so that you can use them whenever you need to. A good place to put them on your calendar is on the same day as a short duration high intensity workout. I suggest doing the high intensity workout in the morning, when you are physically fresh, and the mindfulness session in the afternoon, after work and before dinner. If you are doing aerobic capacity intervals on Tuesday morning and lactate threshold intervals on Thursday morning, schedule a mindfulness session on those afternoons.
Email: Coach Gary