_SportyBrains_

Today we're going all in on the psychology of running; actually more so the psychology of racing. I hope you're excited. If not, that's ok too-not everybody geeks out as hard on this stuff as I do! I actually wrote the majority of this post in my head during a recovery run as I processed my season opener race the day before. And in case you were wondering, writing a post in my head was a great dissociation strategy from how sore I was.... So this story begins with an 8k race downtown after a couple months of solid (like some of the best in years) training. Nearly every workout was spot on and I was starting to see some things I haven't seen from myself in years, especially the courage to push myself to places I'd usually back down from; very encouraging and exciting stuff. As we know, however, being fit physically is only part of the equation; and to be honest I had some confidence in my mental fitness as well, going in and feeling confident in my abilities ...

It's both the valleys and the mountains.  “I had this big build-up,” … “`I gotta go back and do the same trick I got injured doing.’ When I got there, it was a full-on blizzard, so I wasn’t able to kind of face my fears right away. I actually just went free-riding, enjoyed the sport of snowboarding, riding powder, doing all these things, so it kind of like, you know, got me happy and excited. It wasn’t an `I’m going to face my fears’ moment, it was just a ton of fun.” “I was slightly ashamed about having Sochi, but now I wear the ring, because, you know what? I was an Olympian, and I was there and I was proud of doing my thing. How many people get to go to the Olympics? And then how many people get to go multiple times?-Shaun White Today we're gonna talk about the 'F-' word...no, no, not that one, guys! FAILURE. Actually, failure and responding to it has been a hotly requested topic over the past couple weeks in my work and is something I'm seeming...