At the end of November, I’ll turn 56 yrs old. Although I generally don’t put much stock in numerical age (I care much more about how I feel), I will say that turning 56 carries a bit of additional weight. I’m definitely “middle aged”, I have fewer years to live than I’ve been alive (although
At the end of every race season, it’s always a good idea to stop & reflect. Taking a few minutes to quantify how your season went, what you did well, what you changed & what you need to work on going forward can illuminate key insights beneficial to shaping your next season. One of the
Being “coachable” is one of those traits that we coaches look for. It’s funny because you’d think that any athlete asking for help would be coachable. If only that were true!! So, what exactly makes an athlete “coachable”? What makes an athlete “coachable” is their ability to accept the methodology being presented, to ask questions
Some athletes are a coach’s dream…and some aren’t. The dream ones are those who really embrace the process, ask probing questions, dig into the details & commit to the necessary work. These are the athletes who don’t expect linear growth, don’t get derailed when their progress plateaus & don’t look for quick fixes. They are
When life-long athletes realize that they no longer are the athletes they used to be, it can be a bit of a shock. When we find ourselves less fit than we expect, it is so easy to start questioning our “athlete-ness”. It’s a slippery slope because how you think about yourself often becomes your reality.
For many athletes the 2024 race season is quickly coming to a close. And when the last race comes & goes, the very next question is often “Now what?” My answer? Always, always, always take a planned workout break. A planned workout break…what the heck does that mean…exactly? Well, it means pretty much what it
Sometimes the most basic concepts are the ones we need to hear…again…and again…and again. I had that feeling while listening to Sept’s “Hour of Power” with Renee Yomtob of Athletic Mental Performance. In her “Winning the Mental Game” talk she detailed six different modalities (hypnosis, Mental Emotional Release, yoga, breathwork, meditation & visualization) that can
It’s coming…Sept. 22 is just around the corner…which means that Fall has officially arrived! And after this fairly disappointing summer of heat AND smoke, in my opinion, it can’t come soon enough. So, as the temps drop, the pumpkin spice lattes emerge & the red, orange, brown & yellow colors dominate, it’s time to cozy
“Some time ago, I noticed something intriguing in our athlete onboarding process. We pose a simple question: ‘How many hours per week do you have available to train for this event?’ Most athletes fall within a reasonable range of 7 to 15 hours weekly. But occasionally, we encounter outliers who have difficulties setting boundaries for
While the Olympics gives us truly amazing performances, it also gives us an opportunity to peek into the athletes’ training programs. While watching the Men’s 50m Freestyle final I heard the announcer mention that the winner, Australia’s Cameron McEvoy, had been out of the water for 12 mo’s. Wait…he didn’t swim for a whole year?