My Favorite Things Giveaway: Triathlete's Guide to Mental Training

I am very often a victim of my own head. Growing up, I played baseball and then later, softball. I was a pretty good athlete, but if I put too pressure on myself, I'd suck it up perform poorly, to say the least (bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, go ahead and guess what happened if I got stuck in my own head.)

When I began to lose the post-partum weight, I had to play mindgames with myself to keep myself motivated. I'd pretend there were only 10 pounds to lose and work on losing 10 (it was wayyyyy more than 10 that I really needed to lose, but I couldn't look at the big number. It was impossible.) I'd trick myself into believing I was "training" for something rather than "working out to lose weight." Hey, whatever gets me out the door, right?

When I eventually began to train for triathlons, I had a fear of swimming in the ocean. I was never afraid of the ocean before, I always played in it and boogie-boarded and all of that, but I never swam from point A to point B before and honestly, it kind of freaked me out! Especially if I swam with my triathlon group in the murk. I hate the murk.

So I started trying to "train" my head the same way I tried to train my head for weight-loss. I found mantras to repeat, songs to sing, I would focus inward rather than focus on the "external elements," only some of which actually helped. And I found a book online, which did help. Tremendously.  This book: The Triathlete's Guide to Mental Training, by Jim Taylor, Ph.D., and Terri Schneider.

Now, I know you're thinking that you have to be training for a triathlon to have this book, but it's not true, it's just not. This book may focus on triathlon and use triathlon scenarious, but the techniques in it can be used for any area where you are mentally struggling.

I bought this book solely on one review I saw at Amazon and it was this:

"...this book would help any athlete (regardless of discipline) in turning mental weaknesses into strengths."

That's why I bought it. And it's true. We spend so much time training our bodies that we fully neglect the mental aspect of training, which is how to push through to the end, through the pain, how to overcome fear and negative thinking, how to literally control your thoughts and overcome your preconceived limitations. And we all tend to stunt our own growth in some form or another.

Well I got the book and went right through it once and I'm on my second go-round. I tend to "dog ear" pages that are important to me and my husband commented to me about how many pages I've dogeared ("if you dog ear the whole book, it negates the whole reason for dog-earing..." or something like that). But I love so many things, so many things are worth going back to. It covers everything from confidence to how your body physically handles stresses to how you can retrain your mind to overcome anxieties.

There are inspiring stories and quotes from amazing athletes who have fought their own demons. Honestly, I don't care where you are in the process of healthy living, everyone has demons to fight. I would even say that in my own world, the physical part of weight-loss or training makes up about 10% of the whole picture. It's the mental part that gets me out the door, that gets me to the water's edge, that gets me through the panic, that gets me home and wanting to do it all again. So why WOULDN'T I train that part too?

It almost seems silly.

One of my other favorite quotes:

"Confidence allows you to take risks. Risks allow you to be confident and will give you breakthrough performances. Without risks and challenges you may not believe you can press forward. Confidence gives you the belief you can." - Victor Plata, 2004 U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team

And I want to note here that his reference to "breakthrough performances" doesn't mean "gold medal" to me. It means getting out there and getting home and actually wanting to do it all again. I think he means running 5 minute miles after swimming and biking, but for me it's just being able to want to train in the first place. I'm not trying to win a title or anything, I'm just trying to challenge myself to do things or even just try things that I never thought I would or could do before. That's the "breakthrough" to me.

So I love this book. And I thank VeloPress for offering it up for a giveaway. Yes, it's great for triathlon training, but please enter even if you're not. There are so many tools in it that I wish I had armed myself with before I even thought about triathlon.

And who knows? Maybe triathlon's in your future too. (Why NOT! It should be. I'm just sayin.)

The rules for the giveaway:

• Leave a comment telling me what your biggest mental obstacle is in weightloss, fitness, or any other area of your life is that plagues you (and further, if you've conquered it or not!)
• For a second entry, tweet or blog about the giveaway.

Please leave a comment for each entry. Giveaway ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. ET to give way to the next giveaway announcement at midnight Thursday because this week is for celebrating my new place!

While you're here, it's Workout Wednesday! I've also posted about my dream of becoming Demi Moore along with 10 of my 101 Fitness Tips, so go check it out! The end.