Learning to perform

“Surrender” is not a word we often associate with athletic performance. Life is full of paradox and when we can embrace and understand this, it gets juicy and fun: “run fast…but relaxed” you say? Yep. Even the great Arthur Lydiard said “to run fast, go slow.” By this, he meant to build the aerobic base, with running which is easy enough that you can carry on a conversation (just don’t talk about anything that inflames your passions…your heart rate may soar) 🙂

I have found a new mantra which I share with my athletes: “Think ‘open,’ rather than ‘push’ at the end of a hard workout interval, tempo run, or race. There is quite an energetic difference between these two suggestions we may make to ourselves, as we are experiencing a moment of truth during a taxing episode of running. Try “open” on for size and see how your performance – as well as your overall enjoyment of running, is affected. Here is a photo of one of my runners, “opening” during a tempo run. There’s a reason why people say “athletics is 90% mental.” Cheers!!