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 :)