My chest was aching. My breath labored. My heart racing. I struggled to gather myself as I made way up the steep staircase of a trail that is Mt. Sanitas in Boulder, Colorado. The trail gains about twelve-hundred feet in one and a quarter miles for a 17% percent grade, it’s very steep and really hard. And honestly I feel this way most of the time I get to climb this. I’m a little over two weeks out from contracting COVID for the second time so I wasn’t surprised by the discomfort I was experiencing. The last time I had COVID in fall of 2022 it came and went but I had chest pain for almost three months forcing me to DNF after 80 Miles at the Javelina Jundred. I have no noticeable symptoms right now other than the a little fatigue, a high heart rate on exertion, and a little cough every so often. The high heart rate honestly may even be from a bit of detraining and not COVID.

How often do you start an event or even a workout and you tell yourself:

Just don’t lose.

Don’t come in last.

Don’t hurt yourself.

Don’t fall.

Don’t fail...

The fear of failure can make us risk adverse.

We start to play not to lose. We don’t push ourselves as hard as we could because there is a risk of not being successful in the task.

Do you get in your head at the start of a race?

Keep asking yourself, ‘why am I doing this?’ as you contemplate dropping out of a race?

Finish part of a workout and start telling yourself ‘you suck, go do something else.’

Feel like an imposter?

You’re not alone. All athletes battle with up’s and down’s in their mental game. However, we’re not necessarily taught these skills and certainly isn’t what a lot of coaches are teaching.

Mental skills training is not just for elite athletes. Everyone can benefit from it. Whether you’re training for your first ultramarathon, racing Ironman Kona or trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon, developing and enhancing your mental skills is not just going to prepare you for race day but longevity as an athlete.