Are there any recommend books, podcasts, articles, etc. dealing with sports psychology – as related to the endurance athlete?
I’m interested not just in visualization, simulation, overcoming race day jitters, etc. but in what others have done to break through to the next level – when all training and other physical factors indicate that it is possible.
Did you mentally train for the big break through event, or did it just happen? Going in, did you have true confidence you would jump to the next level, or did it just happen?
just about any sports pschology book is worthwhile, most say the same thing…however the biggest difference in endurance athletics compared to tennis or golf is that the training is the best preparation for the mental breakthrough, you have so much time and so mmany ooportunities to think about how bad you feel while training that you ‘rehearse’ that key part many many times…the biggest breakthough will be when you find yourself in a race going at a pace faster than you thought possible, and you hold it…that just sort of happens, after you have trained it so many many hours, you find that it really does work…