Hey there TriGuys and TriGals. I’d like to spend a few moments to talk about an often neglected part of a training regimen, “mental training.” We all know how important it is to train for the swim, bike, run and even the transition, but we seldom spend time on mental/emotional training. Here are few fundamentals on how to begin your mental training:

1. Address Your Fears – Coming up with a list of unkown factors is a good way to ease some of your fears. Some questions you may ask yourself follow: Will the race day be hot or cold? Will someone show up to the race that I would consider my main competition? Will the lake be choppy or calm? How many racers will be in my age group?. While it is good to consider some of these fears, you should only be concerned about things that are within “your” control. You cannot control the weather, or who shows up, or how many other racers are there. As long as you have trained smart, you need to focus only on “you” and try to have the best race that “you” can.

2. Practice Visualizing – Visualizing can help to calm your pre-race nerves. By simply “previewing” the race in your mind, you can ease some anxiety about the flow of the race, the transitions, etc. One way to visualize the race, is to go to the lake and check out the starting area either the night before or morning of the race. When you do this, picture yourself entering the water (nice and calm), and beginning your swim. Then, in your mind, swim out to, and around the buoys. Then picture how you want to look and feel coming out of the water. Once you’ve exited the water, visualize running into T1, then jogging out with your bike, and hopping on for your ride. The same goes for the biking leg, T2, and the run. Rehearse the entire race in your mind before you actually race it.

3. Deal with Pre-Race Stress – Pre-race stress can significantly affect our attitude and interactions with others. It took me a couple of years and a few memorable discussions with my wife to realize that I am often “on edge” right before a race. Sometimes my pre-race stress occurs two days before a race. Othertimes, it occurs the night before a race, or race day morning. One way to combat pre stress, is to warn your family and friends of your pre-race behavior and ask them in advance to forgive you if you do anything unusual. Everyone gets a little uptight on race day, I recommend that you learn to deal with this stress and understand it is normal to feel uptight before a big race.

4. Demonstrate Race Day Toughness – How often do we say “I could have pushed it harder on the b or the run,” or, I can run a45 minute 10k while training, but I fall apart during a race.” We seem to always overanalyze our performance after a race. This is all a part of the learning process. So, take what you’ve experienced from previous races and learn from them! Don’t beat yourself up over them! Simply move on.
Remember, it’s not about the race, it’s about the journey. Mental training will help you whether you are training for your first sprint, or your 5th Ironman. The great thing about this sport, is that you learn more and more about yourself everyday. As you keep learning, you will gain more and more confidence that will help you shine. After all, you are a Triathlete!

Happy Training,

David Pruetz, C.F.T.
USA Triathlon Certified Coach
Owner/Coach, In Training LLC
www.intraining.biz

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