Iowa HEAT Workshop
Cathryn Lucas-Carr

 PhD student in Health & Sports Studies
 Working toward AASP certification as a Sport
Psychology Consultant
 Runner & triathlete!!!

 Triathlon – 3 sports (or 4 if you count the transitions!!!) in one
 Do you have a discipline that you’d say is your weakness?
 You might find that mental skills will help!
 Lots of time out on the course stuck inside our own heads!!
“Maintain your strengths, train your weaknesses”

 Focus & Concentration
 Negative Thought Stoppage & Positive Self-
Talk
 Overcoming Mistakes or Setbacks
 Relaxation, Visualization & Imagery
 Controlling Emotions & Anxiety
 Goal Setting
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Training Strategies
Race Strategies

Internal, Narrow External, Narrow
(Rehearse) (Act/React)
Internal, Wide External, Wide
(Analyze) (Assess)

• Workshop Practice
– 99s
– Walkabout
 Which were you able to better concentrate during?
 During periods with “no distractions,” did you find your mind wandering?
 What did you think about?

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Practice at Home
– Counting breaths w/ and w/o distractions
– Word searches w/ and w/o distractions
Practice while training
– Think about a specific topic for 30 seconds without interruption (build from there!)
– Bring your focus to various parts of your body, and complete “status checks”
– Play “I spy” games while training

What happens when the workouts are just really tough???
 Internal Thoughts
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Focus specifically on how your body is feeling or technique
Control breathing, count strides, strokes, RPMs
 External Thoughts
 Turn your attention away from screaming lungs/muscles
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Have a “go to” thinking subject
Play internal decorator to the houses you pass
 Other Strategies
 Break the workout/race into do-able sections
 Mantras

 Short, self-affirming phrases to help you stay focused and/or get you through the tough spots
 Keep it Short & Simple
 One sentence or less
 Keep it Positive
 Moving toward a goal or challenge
 Keep it Energized
 Use action verbs or adjectives
 Provide Instructions for yourself
 Get up this hill!

 Self-talk is a way we internalize our environment, thoughts, and behaviors.
 Our self-talk often reflects our mood, and can often spiral out of control. This is called negative self-talk.
 With negative self-talk, many athletes talk themselves out of a good performance.
 We can develop positive self-talk

 How can we stop negative self talk?
 We can learn to recognize our triggers and intercept negative self-talk before it begins!
 We can create positive affirmations to reinforce our confidence!
 We can replace our negative thoughts with positive ones!
 Learning positive self-talk can keep us relaxed in a variety of situations!

 Specific strategies for reversing negative self-talk
 Recognizing when we are starting have negative thoughts
 Thought stoppage w/ physical or verbal cue
 Replacing a negative thought with a positive affirmation
 Performance reviews and achievement reminders

 What is Imagery?
 Seeing yourself performing & rehearsing a skill
 Imagining yourself competing in a specific situation
 Not just seeing: Incorporate sounds, smells, tastes, & feelings
 Reproduction of ALL sensory information that produces a skill

 Maintain a positive approach. Picture yourself completing the skills well, the perfect pass or shot.
 Image in ‘real time’. Imagine yourself completing the skill at the speed you would normally complete it.
Timing is a critical part of sport, and getting your body prepared for ‘real time’ situations will help you when those situations arise.
 Feel the movements. Focus on how all the muscles involved feel during that skill, how your equipment feels. You should really feel as if you are in the situation.

 Transition Visualization
 1 st : visualize the set-up of your transition
 2 nd : visualize yourself going through the transition, from the swim exit, to your transition space, and out the bike start.
 Visualizing a problem or setback can help you stay calm and deal with it when it happens
 Taking care of a flat tire
 Your reaction to “dead legs” on the run

 Staying relaxed is a good way to ensure a good performance.
 As with the other mental skills we must PRACTICE relaxation
 Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a good way to learn how to feel when your muscles are relaxed
 Then you can do “targeted spot checks”

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