Inside the Tri-Mind: Change Your Perceptions, Go Faster
As the 2022 triathlon season gets underway, I’ve been working with a number of triathletes, from juniors up to pros. Additionally, I’m practicing what I preach as I prepare myself for a full schedule of racing locally, nationally (USAT Multisport Festival in Texas in April and USAT National Age-group Championships in Milwaukee in August), and internationally (World Sprint Championships in Montreal in June and World Olympic-distance Championships in Abu Dhabi in November). Of course, I’ve introduced the triathletes I work with to the immense value of traditional mental training tools such as self-talk, imagery, and routines. At the same time, a real emphasis in my work in recent years has been on “deeper” mental stuff that I believe may be more impactful on whether triathletes race their fastest or not. What underappreciated, yet oh-so-powerful mental tool am I referring to? Perceptions!
You might have been expecting some sort of “OMG!” moment when I revealed this secret mental tool, so sorry to disappoint. Yet, in this article, I hope to convince you of how superpowered perceptions are in triathlon and, in fact, life in general. What is also important is whether you use these superpowers for good or for evil. Clearly, when you go to the “dark side” of perceptions (apologies for the Star Wars reference), nothing good comes of it. Conversely, when you use your perceptions for good, truly remarkable things can happen such as consistently fast swimming, biking, and running, and maybe even great results.
What are Perceptions?
I believe that it’s important that we have a shared understanding when I introduce powerful words even when words, such as perception, may seem obvious. Perception is defined as “a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting a situation.” Now you start to see why perceptions are so important in triathlon. Basically, they act as the lens through which you look at and respond in your triathlon life. Perceptions are so powerful because they impact how you think about your triathlon, the emotions you experience in your triathlon, and, ultimately, how you perform in your training and races.
A challenge with perceptions is that they can be either weapons that hurt your triathlon efforts or tools that support those efforts. Perceptions that are weapons can include looking at your triathlon negatively and critically, seeing it as stressful, or having those perceptions become distracting and self-defeating, all of which will surely set you up for failure.
In contrast, perceptions that are tools are those that are positive, motivating, calming or energizing (depends on what works for you), and focusing. These helpful perceptions create a mental and physical state that will support committed and determined performances.
Though I have argued elsewhere that “perception is not reality,” what you perceive about your triathlon becomes your reality. For example, two triathletes can arrive at a race where the water is cold and choppy. One’s first perception is “How can I have a good swim in these conditions?” and “I don’t have a chance today.” Clearly, not perceptions associated with a successful race day. In turn, another triathlete who has trained in these conditions with considerable frequency holds a very different perception: “The water is definitely cold and rough today, but I’ve been here, done that” and “Hey, everyone has to deal with the cold water, so I’m just going to do my best.” Just as clearly, these perceptions create an opportunity for a good swim despite the water conditions.
Conscious vs. Unconscious Perceptions
A complication with perceptions is that they can be either conscious (you’re aware of your perceptions) or unconscious (you have no awareness of your perceptions). Conscious perceptions are relatively easy to deal with because you know what they are and, as a result, can make a deliberate effort to change them if you decide that those perceptions aren’t helping you. For example, before a race, you might think “OMG, this course is really hard!” This negative perception will likely lead to anxiety and a tentative effort. Recognizing this, you can choose to shift your perceptions in a more positive direction, such as “This course is a real challenge, and I can’t wait to attack it.” Certainly, a vastly different perception that will likely result in a much stronger effort.
It’s the unconscious perceptions that are the real problems when it comes to how you look at your triathlon life. Because these perceptions are unconscious, you’re not, by definition, aware of them. Yet, they can still have an enormous impact on how you think about, feel toward, and perform in your races.
Unconscious negative perceptions don’t just arise for no reason or without cause. Rather, they are symptoms of unconscious “baggage” that have developed in your life. Some of the types of baggage I find with the triathletes with whom I work include:
Overinvestment (triathlon is life or death)
Perfectionism (I can’t make any mistakes)
Fear of failure (I can’t allow myself to fail)
Outcome focus (Results are everything)
Expectations (I must win today)
Comparison (I must beat Johnny/Jenny today)
Examples of how this baggage develops include becoming a perfectionist to satisfy a demanding father or developing a fear of failure because failure was punished by your parents. All these forms of baggage arise in childhood, again unconsciously, and exert a significant influence on the negative perceptions that you hold about your triathlon life despite their being outside your conscious awareness.
A question you may then ask is: “How do I know I have these perceptions hidden in my psyche if I don’t know they exist?” Well, there are some red flags that can alert you to whether you have perceptions that are interfering with your triathlon efforts.
Your emotions are perhaps the most powerful warning signs of unconscious negative perceptions. If you are feeling any unpleasant emotions related to your triathlon, the chances are they are being fueled by unconscious negative perceptions. Extreme fear, sadness, devastation, frustration, anger, and despair are typically all driven by the causes I described in the bulleted list above. When you experience these emotions frequently in your triathlon life, if you “look under the hood” of your psyche, you will likely find one, some, or the entire list.
What you feel physically is another very noticeable red flag for unconscious negative perceptions. If you feel anxious, stressed, tense, or physically uncomfortable, the chances are that some unconscious negative perceptions are fueling those physical sensations.
Finally, what you are thinking consciously are also warning signs of unconscious negative perceptions at work. When your thinking is driven by worry, doubt, tentativeness, caution, or apprehension, you can assume that your baggage has been triggered in your unconscious and it is producing some unproductive unconscious perceptions.
Change Your Perceptions, Go Faster
You have two goals related to perceptions. Your first goal in training and on race day (and, in fact, every day!) is to ensure that your unconscious negative perceptions don’t control your thinking, emotions, and efforts. Your second goal is to make deliberate choices about what perceptions you want to have in training and on race day (and, again, every day) that will help you to think positively, feel good emotionally and physically, and perform your best.
Be mindful. You start by being aware of the perceptions you have as you approach training and race day and, on the day of the race, as you head toward the swim start for your race. This involves a degree of mindfulness in which you stop briefly and ask yourself what you are thinking and feeling about the upcoming race. You can make note of your conscious perceptions (thoughts about the race you are aware of). You can also check your emotions and do a scan of your body for physical sensations that can provide insight into what unconscious perceptions might be impacting your thoughts and feelings about race day.
Identify negative perceptions. Be specific in identifying whatever negative perceptions may be influencing your psyche. Whether your perceptions are conscious or unconscious, bring them to the front of your mind. This clarity will make them more tangible and give you a greater sense of control over them. You can also evaluate how reasonable they are (they are usually pretty irrational).
Understand where your perceptions came from. If your perceptions are conscious, you can ask yourself what is causing them, for example, how prepared you feel, weather, water conditions, bike and run course difficulty, importance of race, quality of the race field, or non-race issues such as work or family. If your perceptions are unconscious and you intuited what they might be from your emotions or physical state, explore what baggage may be producing them.
Accept, then challenge, your negative perceptions. If you do realize that you’re approaching your training or race day with negative perceptions (whether conscious or unconscious), there is a natural tendency to try hard to resist them: “Stop thinking so negatively!” or “You need to be psyched to race!” This approach to changing your negative perceptions is like trying to push an elephant out of a room; not going to happen! Instead of pushing against that elephant that is your perceptions, accept that you have those perceptions (realize that even pro triathletes experience negative perceptions), acknowledge that they aren’t going to help you in your race, and then challenge those perceptions (tell yourself why they aren’t true).
Create conscious positive perceptions. Finally, identify some perceptions that will support your efforts on race day (e.g., “I’m just going to swim, bike, and run as fast I can regardless of the conditions!” or “I’m really prepared to go fast today!”). Instead of feeling stuck on an awfully bad road (metaphorically) in which you are propelled by your negative perceptions, you’ve created a fork in the road and now have the conscious positive perceptions at the front of your mind leading down a good road. The destination where your conscious positive perceptions are leading you is a day full of fun, fast racing, and the great feeling of knowing that you were your best ally and gave it your all on race day.
Want to make mental training a part of your program’s early-season prep plan? Here are a few options:
You might have been expecting some sort of “OMG!” moment when I revealed this secret mental tool, so sorry to disappoint. Yet, in this article, I hope to convince you of how superpowered perceptions are in triathlon and, in fact, life in general. What is also important is whether you use these superpowers for good or for evil. Clearly, when you go to the “dark side” of perceptions (apologies for the Star Wars reference), nothing good comes of it. Conversely, when you use your perceptions for good, truly remarkable things can happen such as consistently fast swimming, biking, and running, and maybe even great results.
Perceptions that are weapons can include looking at your triathlon negatively and critically, seeing it as stressful, or having those perceptions become distracting and self-defeating, all of which will surely set you up for failure.
Though I have argued elsewhere that “perception is not reality,” what you perceive about your triathlon becomes your reality. For example, two triathletes can arrive at a race where the water is cold and choppy. One’s first perception is “How can I have a good swim in these conditions?” and “I don’t have a chance today.” Clearly, not perceptions associated with a successful race day. In turn, another triathlete who has trained in these conditions with considerable frequency holds a very different perception: “The water is definitely cold and rough today, but I’ve been here, done that” and “Hey, everyone has to deal with the cold water, so I’m just going to do my best.” Just as clearly, these perceptions create an opportunity for a good swim despite the water conditions.
awareness of your perceptions). Conscious perceptions are relatively easy to deal with because you know what they are and, as a result, can make a deliberate effort to change them if you decide that those perceptions aren’t helping you. For example, before a race, you might think “OMG, this course is really hard!” This negative perception will likely lead to anxiety and a tentative effort. Recognizing this, you can choose to shift your perceptions in a more positive direction, such as “This course is a real challenge, and I can’t wait to attack it.” Certainly, a vastly different perception that will likely result in a much stronger effort.
A question you may then ask is: “How do I know I have these perceptions hidden in my psyche if I don’t know they exist?” Well, there are some red flags that can alert you to whether you have perceptions that are interfering with your triathlon efforts.
head toward the swim start for your race. This involves a degree of mindfulness in which you stop briefly and ask yourself what you are thinking and feeling about the upcoming race. You can make note of your conscious perceptions (thoughts about the race you are aware of). You can also check your emotions and do a scan of your body for physical sensations that can provide insight into what unconscious perceptions might be impacting your thoughts and feelings about race day.
