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Mind Training for Triathlon "Whatever the Mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve".

Triathlon Mental Training Tip 1

Visualization Will Increase Your Inner Belief
http://www.triathlonpsychology.com

One of the biggest problems I have found facing most triathletes (or athletes of any kind) is a distinct lack of real belief in their own ability.

I am not talking about external confidence (which is simply a brave face put on for competitors!), I mean real inner belief that you truly KNOW that can win, and beat the top contenders when it comes down to the wire. This is a feeling which cannot be faked, and which is absolutely essential when it comes to the vital last stages of a triathlon when you are neck-and-neck with a favored competitor. Those who cannot seem to finish off these situations are simply missing this inner belief which is required to reach the upper levels of triathlon.

A lack of real belief in oneself creates a mental approach of fear, which cause a whole variety of different problems for triahtletes during the heat of competition, the most common ones being:

• a deep inner feeling of not being good enough
• extreme nervousness at the start
• training brilliantly but performing badly when it counts
• negative thoughts - of all types!
• difficulty sleeping the night before
• worrying about small details which may never occur (eg. bad transitions, collisions etc)
• intimidated by competitors
• unusual or silly mistakes in transitions
• regularly recurring problems in competition
• not looking forward to triathlons
  
  Once a triathlete gradually begins to believe in themselves, these symptoms often disappear completely or reduce substantially, allowing positive feelings of confidence, anticipation and yes, even a general feeling of happiness and eagerness to fill your mind and body during performance. This is a far better mental preparation for a strong performance.

Don't get me wrong, however, nervousness before the beginning of a triathlon is not a bad thing! It's a sign that you are psyched up and ready to go. (So don't get nervous if you're nervous!!) It's only extreme nervousness that most competitors can do without before the start.

So what is the best way I know to begin to create belief in yourself and your own ability?

Daily visualization. Let me explain, this is all you have to do. Every day for 5 minutes (or even if just for a few minutes) vividly imagine in your mind the absolute perfect performance you would like to happen in your next competition, as if it is really happening right at that very moment. This literally programs your subconscious mind for success (much like a computer), it's a form of self-hypnosis which is very safe, easy and it works brilliantly.

A crucial element - when you visualize competing in your mind, use all your senses - imagine seeing the competitors, people and surroundings, all in their respective colours, and hear the sounds of the general crowd and atmosphere. Most of all - feel that amazing joy of victory when you win the triathlon!

If you do this every day for around 5 minutes, you will gradually notice a shift in your confidence levels before and during competition, and your results will begin to steadily improve. I don't have the space to tell you how this works, except to say that this creates a mental program (or blueprint) in the area of your mind that is the control-center of all of your body's movements.

Now the only trick to it is this - it's only the truly dedicated competitors who will do this every day. This very quickly sorts out the serious contenders from the ones who just wish they were better, but are not willing to do anything about it. Are you willing to try this for 5-10 minutes a day? If you do, you may well discover a whole range of extra benefits from it as well, which even go far beyond triathlon.

There are many important aspects to visualization which you should know about (I could probably write 100 pages on this topic alone), but some of the important aspects it can be used for are to:

• increase your energy, enthusiasm and motivation
• overcome extreme nervousness
• learn new technical skills far more easily and quickly
• overcome and conquer intimidation, criticism and cheating from competitors
• dramatically increase your own inner self-belief
• relax easily and quickly
• banish negativity, and sustain positivity
• recover from illness and injuries more quickly
• learn to make contact with the sleeping giant inside you, your subconscious
• and many, many others

But that's all in the future - begin today, find a quiet place for 5 minutes and start your daily mental training routine. Be patient and persistent, and the results will come - they always do.

"The Mind controls the body, and the Mind is Unlimited"

The best of success, Craig Townsend

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A mental training triathlon site with free mental training tips, relaxation, confidence and motivation tips for triathletes and ironman events, and a visualization CD or mp3 audio download to computer or iPod. Please note that this site uses a vast array of mental training techniques unrelated to psychology or sports psychology practices.