Category: Mental Training

Is Belief in Yourself Egotistical?

9

Before Ironman Lake Placid, I read an article in Triathlete magazine by Chris “Macca” McCormack, titled, “‘Ego’ is not a Dirty Word.” Macca’s main message: have belief in yourself. He goes on to say that some may see this belief or confidence as an overblown ego, yet he cautions that such a view is wrongheaded. He writes: “Our ego is simply the way we see ourselves, and in a competitive environment, this is without question our defining variable. This word “ego” is tossed around nowadays with such a negative spin on it. It annoys me to think that by believing in yourself and pursuing …

Oh, baby, I got the post Ironman blues

17

There I was, in the middle of my run, just bee-bopping along and the thought occurred to me: triathlon season was coming to an end for me. The best season of my triathlon career. Over. And, then it hit me. The “it” being the post Ironman blues, or in my case, the post-best-triathlon-season-ever blues. Since then, I’ve been feeling a little sad, agitated, bored, unmotivated, and annoyed. All at once. Being the curious sort that I am, I wondered if there was an explanation for the post Ironman blues. I’ve had this feeling after almost every Ironman or “big” race I’ve …

Fear(less)

10

As far as emotions go, fear has its uses. For example, if faced with the Zombie apocalypse, a certain amount of fear can be useful. Just the right amount of stimulation to the nervous system gets the adrenaline flowing, and can help to put the fight in the fight or flight response. But, too much fear can paralyze you – and BAM! Just like that, there goes your brains, a tasty treat for a rotting corpse. So, that’s one thing that triathlon and running have in common with the zombie apocalypse: In order to survive, you need to keep your head. …

Instant Gratification & Endurance Sport

20

As a culture, we’ve become increasingly absorbed by products, services and experiences that promise instant gratification. In the world of endurance sport, maybe this translates to taking supplements (legal or illegal) to lose weight quickly, to build strength quickly, to boost endurance overnight, to eliminate fatigue. Maybe it means we expect unrealistic results, before we’ve put the time in, before we’ve done the work we need to do in order to achieve the goals that are worth achieving. Maybe it means we compare ourselves to others, thinking if we do exactly what they have done, we’ll have the same results. …

(Not) Just Like the First Time: The Ironman Lake Placid Bike Course

8

As we drove north to Lake Placid last weekend, and the one-dimensional terrain of southern New Jersey gave way to the peaks of the Adirondacks, I could feel the flapping of those butterfly wings in my belly. It was a mixture of both excitement and anxiety as we returned to what I consider to be my “home” Ironman course. We were heading to Lake Placid for a long training weekend. John would be running Mt. Marcy in preparation for the VT100 on July 20. I would be joining the Fireman Ironman training camp for a swim-bike-run of the course in anticipation …

Conquering Pain: Accept it. Don’t Ignore it.

10

When John was training for Ironman Cozumel, where he went on to qualify for Kona, he had a piece of paper that read: Pain cannot be ignored: It has to be conquered, and when it inevitably returns, it has to be conquered again. Find what you have and handle it.  Physical Mental Emotional Spiritual Now, I have this same piece of paper, hanging from a clip in front of my desk. It is a reminder of what is different about my training this year. It is a reminder that I have to learn how to conquer pain. Again. And again. …

Running Music: The beat of my own lyrics

12

My running music playlist is an embarrassment to “real” music. It’s full of candy pop, hip hop, booty bop, and electronic rock. I don’t always run with music, but when I do, my primary goal for a running song is the beat. I need the boom-boom-boom-boom to work with the cadence of my footfalls, so this frequently leads me to “that” section of iTunes in search of the boom-ba-doom-ba-boom-ba-doom-boom bass. I’m particularly partial to any song that has the word “remix” in the title. While I select songs based a fast beat, after listening to them over and over, the lyrics do …

The Breath

2

Breathing. A simple, taken-for-granted action of the body that drives everything we do. We will continue to breath (hopefully!) whether we think about it or not. But, when we breath with intention, we can get so much more from our breath. My yoga instructor begins and ends her classes with a series of breathing exercises, which she refers to in Sanskrit as pranayama. These exercises teach us how to extend and control our breath, for if we control our breath (or our life force), we can better manage our movements. Or perhaps, more precisely, we can be more in tune with …

Fight the Voices in your Head

4

I pulled into the packed gym parking lot. It was January 2.  New Years Resolutions, I thought to myself. As I walked into the gym, and prepared myself for my swim, I looked at the newcomers and smiled, hoping to be encouraging. I know that many of these people will not be here in a month or so, and that saddens me. I know that each of these well-intentioned people will reach a point where the going gets tough – maybe the time commitment becomes overwhelming, maybe it becomes just too easy to hit snooze instead of getting up to …

Coulda, Shoulda

11

“Whoa!” I exclaimed as I walked into the garage. “It is HOT in here.” “It’ll be hot in Cozumel,” John replied, barely looking up from his aerobars. It was the Fall of 2011. John was ramping up for Ironman Cozumel, where he would attempt to qualify for Kona. Now, in the Fall of 2012, we all know how that story went. On this day in particular, he was in the middle of a 6.5 hour ride – on the trainer in the 90-degree, airless garage. Why ride the trainer in a hot garage on a gorgeous early Autumn day, you might rightly ask? …