Triathlon Tip 7
Creating
Your Dream Triathlon Performance
http://www.triathlonpsychology.com
I
am sure you, like most triathletes, have experienced a time when you felt like
you were in the zone, where every action flowed absolutely perfectly and effortlessly.
These are times when you feel, even just for a few minutes, like you are the world
champion.
Well,
those times when you felt invincible can actually be used to propel you towards
even greater success in the future - using this technique I am about to share.
You
can do this by mentally constructing your own "dream race", which you
will then use for regular visualization, to program these areas of your performance
into your future triathlons. This is something you can use and practice
in training, so that when you reach the big competitions, you will be ready to
put your dream race into action.
Here's
how you do it. First
of all you need a pen and paper, and then I want you to really think hard through
the archives of your memory bank, because I want you to remember the time and
the place that you did the 'best swim segment you ever did'.
Yes,
you CAN remember if you try hard enough! Your best swim ever.....think for a moment.
OK, once you've remembered, write down the word "Swim" on the paper,
followed by the location, date and the event (if you remember these) where you
had this fabulous swim.
Now,
I want you to think back over all the competitions and training you've done in
the past and remember the best transition you ever did (from the swim leg
to the bike leg). Then write this one down as well - next to 'Swim/Bike Transition'.
OK
- now, I want you to remember the best bike leg you've ever done (I know this
takes some real brainwork to remember these, but you can do it if you keep your
mind focused on it - and once you've got them on paper, there will be no looking
back!). Once you remember your personal best bike leg, write down the location,
date and event (naturally) next to the word "Bike".
Now,
remember the best transition you ever did, from the bike leg to the
run. Then write this one down as well, next to Bike/Run Transition.
OK,
we've nearly finished creating your dream race.
Now,
remember the best run leg of a race you have ever done, with the best finish -
and write down the location, date and event next to the word "Run".
Your
dream race is complete, and you are ready to use it.
Now
look at the paper and look at the best race segments you've ever swum - your best
swim, your best swim/bike transition, your best bike segment, your best bike/run
transition, and your best-ever run to finish.
OK,
now close your eyes, and now join all those segments together in your mind, like
putting together a jigsaw puzzle of film and video clips. Put them all together
as one race, and this is now the movie of you - at your absolute best!
If
all of these segments happened to come together during one race, even better -
you only have one videeo clip to run, and none to piece together!
Mentally
play this through your mind regularly in your visualizations, and even during
training, and make this dream race your goal to achieve in training and the meets.
Then, rewind and play it through your mind again, and again, and again until you
know it backwards. When you can do this, you will soon notice your times coming
down and the quality of your performance improving.
As
time goes by and perform even better swims, bike segments, runs and transitions,
add these - to constantly update your dream race, taking out any old race
segments which are no longer your best ever.
So
if you haven't done created your dream race yet, go and do it right now.
Use
this as your benchmark, the peak of your tri career that you aspire to achieve,
all over again. By remembering and using your dream race, it will bring you plenty
more in the future!
"The
Mind controls the body, and the Mind is Unlimited"The
best of success, Craig Townsend
