Words make all the difference!

Happy Thursday Readers,

Summer has certainly taken hold in my neck of the woods and I am sure you are knee deep in mid-season training.  You have scheduled all your bricks, hill sessions, swim training (open water, of course), massage appointments and strength training workouts.  Seems like every body part is cared for, obsessed over and scheduled.  Have you considered one of the most important muscle groups?

Yes, people, I am talking about your brain!!!

Mental training can make or break your race day experience.  Now, like you, I have heard that a million times and although I think of myself as a wordsmith (or least, wordsmith in training), I am always astounded by the power of my thoughts.  Even now, are you running a positive tape or negative tape in your head?

What is your self-talk like?

In my earlier years of training and racing, I used affirmations to help me get over any negative chat.  You know how this works, you choose a statement and repeat it to yourself until it becomes a part of your vernacular.  It sounds airy-fairy but I have a concrete example that still impresses me.  Back in the day, in my classroom (yes, my math classroom), I happened upon a homeroom that were dismally unorganized.  High school students arriving in my space with binders askew and papers following them like Linus' dirt trail in Peanuts (look it up!).  It drove me nuts!  I tried to punish/encourage them by assigning marks to neater notes and structured duotangs but to no avail.  Major intervention required!!! One morning I posted signs all over my class and I mean ALL OVER saying:


I AM ORGANIZED


I only mentioned it when asked and left the signs for 6 months.  The results were amazing.  Although I never gave them specific ways to improve their organization, across the board everyone had better notes, less wayward paper and a new respect for how structure improves learning.

Ok, enough pedagogical rhetoric. . . How can I use this to be a better triathlete?  Read on!

The challenge is in the wording.  So often we use statements in the future.  "I will place top 10 in the swim portion."  You won't ever get there. . . this is what I call the 'hope' plan.  Try "I am top 10 after the swim"  Much more powerful and confident.  "I fuel every 15 minutes on the bike"  "I race within myself"  "My transitions are smooth and easy" and my favorite "I finish strong and I have fun".

The other thing to consider is what are you telling yourself day-to-day?  Self-talk during training is equally important.  Recently, I saw a promo of Julia Wilkinson in the Give Your Everything (Check out the Video) campaign for London 2012 which read "My best swim will be my next swim".  Although this is in the future, it also exudes a subtle confidence.  This is really saying that my next swim, my next training session, my next brick will be my best ever.  I am getting fitter, stronger, faster every time I pull on my runners, pull out my bike or slip into my speedo.

If you follow this blog regularly, you know I have mentioned Julia before and I do so with an awareness of how mentally tough she is.  A great model for us mere mortals to emulate.

All right readers, you are up. . . . .find an affirmation that will work for you.  Try it for 10 days and just observe and, of course, report back!

Here I am going first:  "I write an amazing, informative, inspiring blog"

Cheers :)

More four letter words

Hello Readers,

I have two more four letter words inspired by our trip to France.  I hesitate to use them but there is no other way to describe the theme that developed throughout our week in the saddle.  I give complete credit to our avid cyclist/physician. . . she gives the term real street cred.

FOOD PORN


Our resident foodie took it upon himself to photograph pretty much every meal we had!!!  At first, I thought, "Seriously, who cares what the food looks like, let's just eat!"  But as the week wore on, I wondered if my entrée, my menu choice would rate a photo.  Did I choose something that was not only savoury but photogenic?  I began scanning the menu for a picture-worthy meal.  As a side note, this is one of the main reasons I love a cycling holiday:  total guilt-free eating!!!  After all, it is technically fuel.

Why Food Porn? . . . .  because everything looks like it should be illegal somehow.  So beautifully put on the plate and served with care and pride of workmanship.  Ok, on to the main event. . . . Please be kind as my description may leave you wanting more but that really is the point, isn't it?

Remember when we had to eat in the kitchen and they clad the table with rose petals?

A lovely veal shank with spaezle

Now one would think that we only ate really well in the evening but, mes amis, that is not how it is done en France.  Every meal was amazing.

Lunch:

In a word: CHEESE

Yes, those are scallops!

A beautiful gallette à la brétagne

Finally, a simple salad at
Chateauneuf de Pape
(oh, and the wine was good too :)

I am sure you are thinking that we ate like kings and queens (or popes) all week long.  In fact, we actually had a picnic one night as our guides told us we had to rough it at least once on vacation:

Yeah, it was rough!

It took me quite a long time to post this blog as I kept questioning myself, "Is this related to the spirit of the TriDiva network?"  Cycling and eating through the south of France doesn't seem related to supporting women in their fitness goals and then I realized that women in sport and in general, are much more complicated that sets, workouts and race goals.  

At some point, our souls need nurturing not hard-core training.  Friends, family, scenery, good food and great wine nurtured me and supported me.  I look forward to a summer of great training and great blogs.  I leave it to you to decide, do we look happy?