I was recently interviewed by Andrew Patterson, the host of the IronmanHacks, on the topic of swim anxiety/panic. On the podcast, I explain possible causes of these strong physiological and psychological reactions during an open-water swim and offer practical information and tools that you can use to overcome it. To listen or watch the podcast, [...]
Is there anything more central to our psychological and emotional health and well-being than the quality of our relationships? And is there any other topic in the “self-help industrial complex” that receives so much attention? In both cases, the answer is a very sad no. What these two questions suggest is that so many of [...]
We triathletes are deep into the 2023 race season with many big races approaching rapidly. For me, those include the World Sprint Championships in Germany in a few weeks, the USAT National Championships in Milwaukee in August, and the World Standard-distance Championships in Spain in September. For long-course triathletes, it might be the World Ironman [...]
A racer I’m working with recently won the first run of a big race, but he struggled in his second run and missed out on a potential victory. His race day reminded me of a similar experience in my first college carnival as a freshman at Middlebury. I won the first run of the UVM [...]
As I mentioned in a previous post, I was in the UK a few weeks ago doing some work with Global Cycling Network and Global Triathlon Network. Part of my time there was spent shooting segments on the mental side of triathlon for the GTN Show with one of its excellent presenters, Mark Threlfall. I [...]
I was recently interviewed by the American news network, Newsy, about the tennis star, Naomi Osaka's abrupt withdrawal from the French Open due to ongoing mental-health difficulties. Osaka's admission of her mental-health challenges is another compelling voice added to an increasing number of professional athletes who are speaking out about the impact of mental illness [...]
Episode #37-Breathing of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast explores the power of breathing to better prepare you physically and mentally for competitive success. Breathing may be the most under-rated tool in your mental toolbox. In fact, you may have never even thought about your breathing in your athletic life at all because [...]
In the first article in my three-part series exploring the impact of intensity on triathlon training and racing, I introduced you to what intensity is, how it affects you, how you can tell when you are either under- or over-intense. This article will focus on how you can identify your ideal intensity for triathlon and [...]
This article is the first of three exploring the essential importance of intensity in triathlon training and racing. When most people think about intensity, they think about mental intensity, a certain seriousness and determination that they apply to their triathlon efforts. But that’s not what I’m talking about. When I say “intensity,” I mean the [...]
A number of occurrences compelled me to write this article. First, a growing number of professional athletes are coming forward with their own mental-health challenges in the hopes of destigmatizing mental illness and encouraging others who are struggling to seek help. Second, the Covid-19 crisis has seen an increase in mental-health issues, particularly among young [...]
