I’m not sure if this concept has been written about in this article before or not, but I’d like to touch on it using a personal experience to illustrate a common frustration in athletes.

Competition is an odd thing. It pits two or more people against each other in order to find out who is the best at a certain event. Once the bell, whistle or gun sounds it doesn’t matter what cap you have on, how many hours you’ve trained or how big or strong your opposition is, It’s you versus them… If everyone were to train, eat and sleep the same amount there would still be something (often physical) that would determine the winner. However, the mental approach to competition (i.e. will to win) is equal or greater than the physical differences that separate us.

When I started racing triathlons the sport was new to me; each time I started a race it was a new opportunity to prove to myself and others how good I could be. I fed off that energy and had great success immediately in the sport. Once I became familiar with racing strategies, training workloads and competition, my racing didn’t regress, but lacked the original explosiveness that I’d had in my “early” racing days. This puzzled me. How could I be better prepared in every facet of the sport and only see marginal improvements?

It was my attitude and desire, plain and simple.

When I originally went to races all I cared about was winning, I needed to win, I had to win. I didn’t toe the line wondering if I had swum enough or lifted enough prior to be able to beat my competitors, I just knew I had to lay it on the table and see where I ended up. As I progressed in the sport my attitude changed. I still wanted to win, but I began thinking, did I do enough, can I swim with so and so, or what if X happens during the race. Those thoughts are all negative and nothing to help me during the race. This became clear to me this summer when I entered a number of races, after two years away from the sport. I hadn’t swum a yard in two years at the time of my first race. My strategy was just give a good effort on the swim and go from there. To my surprise when the race started I was at the top of the field! My energy level swelled and I took over the second spot in the race. How could I do this after not racing (or swimming) for two years? It was simple; I didn’t focus on the negatives, just the positives! The rest of the summer my swims were spectacular in relation to the amount of swimming I was doing in training (none!).

Basically in sport we need to prepare in order to succeed. We prepare by suffering through grueling practices, eating bland food and sleeping 8+ hours a night. These things all help prepare our body for competition, but not our mind. We need to start each race with the same mindset. It’s me vs. you, let’s go! So, stand tall and be confident in who you are and what you’ve done in order to race your best.