You all have fitness and performance goals that you have set yourselves. You’ve taken the step to commit to a challenge, registered for an event, hired a coach, joined a team, bought your equipment and started your training.
The physical demands of the event you have chosen, as well as technical and possibly tactical considerations are usually at the forefront of your training and efforts. The reality is however that race day, particularly for longer endurance type events, will be judged on nutrition and mental toughness (as well as if we’re being honest, luck too). In longer events, Olympic distance triathlons, half ironman events and full ironman events, mental toughness, emotional control, sustained focus are all critical in performing well. These are long events and there is always scope for things to not quite go to plan and that can derail even the most confident focused athletes out there. Do you train for this aspect of your race?
There’s a good chance your coach is already building this into your program. There are days when your coach will deliberately set you a session when you are tired and the expectation will be just for you to complete the session, if that even… This isn’t done by chance. Learning to push through in training is key, if you are going to be able to do it on race day. So sometimes your coach will tell you to ease off if you’re not quite feeling 100%...but other days they will ask you to push through, even if its just for half the set session.
Taking part in endurance sports can be enjoyable, rewarding and in many cases life changing. However the experience itself can be stressful. Getting nervous and anxious in the lead up to a race, feeling frustrated during training or racing when things don’t quite go to plan, anger, sadness, relief, elation. These are all familiar emotions that go hand in hand with endurance sports. And depending on how you interpret them and deal with them, they can make or break your race. Do you practice these skills?
Why mental skills training?-It will enable you to have great emotional control and channel these emotions more positively-It can boost motivation and commitment to the sport and the goal-It can sustain concentration and focus for better performance during training and competition.-It enhances an athlete’s self confidence and self belief
How do you practice mental skills training?There are various techniques that can be used but just as with physical training, they require testing and practice to establish which work better for each athlete. We all have our preferences so these may differ from athlete to athlete. And just as with physical training, they take time to learn and master, so practice, be patient and build on them slowly.
Commitment: If commitment is what you’d like to work on, then simple techniques like goal setting, refocusing and positive thinking can help.Concentration: If sustained focus is what you’d like to work on, techniques like imagery, distraction training, training/racing routines/rituals, simulation training, segmentation can all help.Confidence: This is a very important mental quality for athletes at all levels and ages. Positive self talk can help, imagery training, goal setting, routines and cognitive restructuring can all help develop this further.Emotional Control: Being able to control your emotions is critical in competitions across the sporting spectrum, but given the length of endurance events this becomes even more pronounced if you are out there competing over a long period of time. Relaxation training, breathing exercises, contingency planning, mental activation training, positive self talk, routines, cognitive restructuring are just some of the techniques that an athlete can use in training and call upon in an event if they need to.
Some techniques are far simpler than others. Some require more practice but they can be as simple as counting during a race. Paula Radcliffe for example famously said that she used to count from 1 to 300 over and over again in a race cause it helped keep her focus and she knew that reflected about a mile of running. So it provided her with the feedback she needed and a cue to focus on. Would this work for you? Give it a shot and see if it helps. Your number may be different but it may help.
An Ironman triathlon involves 180kms of riding. That’s a long time to maintain focus. Segment the ride. Focus on 10kms at a time. These days the technology can help; you can set your garmin to give you feedback every 10kms so you ride and focus on just that segment. Tick that off and move on to the next one. And then the next and then the next…until the ride is done and its time to run.
An ironman can take the average age grouper anything from 9 hours to 16 hours or more. There is scope for lots of things to not quite go to plan, even with the best laid plans and intentions. A bad swim can send the athlete on the ride, the longest portion of the event, frustrated, disappointed and off focus. This can be critical for the whole event. Switch the thinking. Yes, the ride is the longest part of the event, which means there is scope to turn it around and regain what was lost in the swim. Sounds simple, but just as with changing a puncture in the calm surroundings of your home just for practice, changing a punctured tyre in a race, when adrenaline is pumping and other athletes are flying past you, it’s a very different situation. So it needs practice. Use those long rides to train your body, but use the time to practice your nutritional strategy and your mental strategy as well.
And sometimes keep in mind, its completely ok to throw your toys out of the pram. That’s the one thing with endurance events that sprint events don’t offer. Yes it’s a long day if things aren’t going to plan, but you can make time be on your side. So if you’re feeling frustrated and annoyed and angry, these are all normal legitimate emotions athletes (from pros to age groupers) go through. Emotional control is critical but its also ok to just let go. Let it out, have a whinge… and then refocus! Bring it back to the event. Similar to grieving, sometimes you just need to let it take over and let it out so you can recenter. It’s the same principle for endurance events. If you're having a bad day and you're annoyed and struggling to find your focus…don’t fight it. Let it out, indulge in some self pity, go ahead. Let it out of your system, and then move on. Refocus on the job at hand. How do you do that? Practice it, train for it, listen to your body and your mind, read the signs, and respond accordingly. It takes time so allow time to master these skills.