Get Mentally Strong

Get Mentally Strong

“You are stronger than you think you are and can do more than you think you can”

Here’s why this is one of my favorite sayings, originally by Ken Choubler, founder of the Leadville 100 mile race series.

When I turned 50 (that’s um, about 9 years ago), I entered the Leadville 100 mile mountain bike race. Thinking that I could do this race took a little bit grit, a little bit faith, and a lot insanity. After all, this is a famous race that includes professional cyclists. I wanted a serious challenge, one that was outside my comfort zone. I certainly got one.

I’m not going to talk about how grueling the event was and not about how the miles of training went from a beautiful adventure to rather boring, lonely hours on a bike.

Being prepared for this event was half physical fitness (that much is obvious) and half mental preparedness. Somewhere in my life more than one of my coaches had told me that what you think is where you go.

So my goal during the race was to think ONLY positive thoughts to pump myself up (Tip #1, below) . This became my focus during the boring miles of training. I knew that if even one negative thought crept into my mind during the 12 hours of the race that it would begin to take me down instead of pump me up. This was a timed event where you had to pass certain mile markers at certain times in order to keep going.

Here are 3 tips for staying MENTALLY strong for sports and life:

1) Talk to yourself in the 3rd person or by your first name.
“You’ve got this!” “C’mon Robin, stay with it”. This way of talking to yourself helps to regulate emotional response. (Read one of the studies here: https://rdcu.be/b72t5)

2) Focus on the things you CAN control
Instead of thinking of the outcome target, focus on process and performance. Things like attitude, whether you tracked your opponents or kept your eye on the ball (tennis!), if you moved your feet (tennis!). It’s the things that you can influence that matter.

3) Challenge your negative thoughts
Feel a negative thought coming on? Cut it off before it festers. Made an error somehow? Instead of beating yourself up about it, what can you LEARN from it? Take the mistake or the error and turn it into a lesson to grow from.

The race? It was amazing to be a part of it. Starting at 10,000 feet and going as high as 13,000 feet had its own altitude challenges for this sea-level girl.

In the early morning 30 degree chill, 2,000 racers were eager to start. As I rode, I watched my heart rate to help regulate my effort and was right where I wanted to be (Tip #2). I was one of the last to be allowed through the 40 mile mark with more than 600 racers behind me. The sun was now burning down on us all. My family cheered me on as I started the 3,000 foot climb to the 50 mile turnaround mark. The altitude and racing took its toll (severe quad cramping) and the climb took an hour longer than I had planned. I had little time to appreciate the grand view at the top before pushing into 2nd part of the race.

Then, at 55 miles it happened. My first negative thought crept in as I was descending from 13,000 feet on a rutted gravelly road. “I’m tired, I’m going so slow, I’m not going to make the time marker at 60 miles”. I could feel myself give up a little bit.

And you know what? I was right. What I thought is where I went. I missed the time marker by just 10 minutes and was pulled from the race at 60 miles.
Did my mental attitude break my pace and result in being pulled from the race? I don’t think it was everything, but it was a big part of it for sure. I still consider the race “a win” (Tip #3) because I learned so much about myself and just how critical that what you say to yourself matters to your performance.

The mental training is something I still practice in every day life and I hope you will give it a try to pump yourself up and improve your sports performance and self-confidence.

~Robin