Episode 308: The Racing Mindset
Follow the Purple Patch Podcast at:
APPLE PODCASTS - SPOTIFY- AMAZON MUSIC - GOOGLE PODCASTS - YOUTUBE
It's race season, folks! The season is beginning in full swing, especially in the northern hemisphere, and we have some exciting races to look forward to. It’s a perfect opportunity to test your limits, skills, and abilities, but most importantly, it’s an opportunity to have fun.
IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon explores performance readiness and the racing mindset to help you perform your best on race day. The aim is to provide a fresh perspective to show up for your important events and focus on what will result in the best performance possible.
Matt discusses the importance of training and developing physiological race-readiness, refining skills, and race craft, and devising strategies for fueling and hydration, to understand the demands of racing and the role race preparation plays in setting up an approach to define the race in your favor.
On race day, many athletes face negative and distracting thoughts. However, Matt delves into the underlying reasons and outcomes of such negative thinking and offers strategies to help you gain control.
The topic of discussion for this week is racing, but the principles covered by Matt apply to any situation where you need to perform at your best - be it giving a speech at work or leading a team. The key is to have the right mindset, which can help you reach your goals and maximize your efforts.
Episode Timestamps
00:00 - 03:55 - Welcome and Episode Introduction
04:02 - 06:02 - Matt’s News-ings
06:17 - 07:34 - Word of the Week
07:41 - 35:12 - The Meat and Potatoes - Episode 308: The Racing Mindset
Purple Patch and Episode Resources
Purple Patch Video Podcast and More
Click here for the SPECIAL Fuelin Landing Page
2024 Purple Patch Performance Camps - SIGN UP NOW for our Napa Valley and South Carolina Training Camps
We've reimagined indoor cycling - Find out more about Purple Patch Bike Live & On-Demand
Come try the Purple Patch Tri-Squad
More on Purple Patch Bike Live & On-Demand
Get a Free Taste of Purple Patch Strength
ORDER NOW - 2024 PURPLE PATCH APPAREL
Everything you need to know about the Purple Patch Methodology
Join the Purple Patch Team
The Purple Patch Center is Open - Learn More and Schedule a Visit
Purple Patch Coaching Consultation
Learn more about our Tri Squad Program
This episode is sponsored by our collaboration with INSIDE TRACKER. Inside Tracker and Purple Patch- Receive 20% off their services with code: PURPLEPATCHPRO20
Ask Matt Anything - Leave a voicemail question for Matt
Learn more about Purple Patch Squad High-Performance Training Program
Join Run Squad - Increase your running performance through our progressive, multi-sport approach to running
Learn more about Purple Patch Fully Customized 1:1 Coaching
Learn more about Purple Patch Strength Programming
Stay Up-to-Date with Purple Patch News and Events
Full Transcript
Matt Dixon 00:00
I'm Matt Dixon and welcome to the Purple Patch podcast. The mission of Purple Patch is to empower and educate every human being to reach their athletic potential. Through the lens of athletic potential, you reach your human potential. The purpose of this podcast is to help time-starved people everywhere integrate sport into life.
Matt Dixon 00:22
At Purple Patch, we have a guiding mantra to deliver predictable and consistent breakthrough races. This mantra helped deliver more than 450 pro wins grams from the pro squad, multiple World Champions, and more than 1500 Kona qualifiers to world championship races. The mantra is simple, fit and fresh. To have a breakthrough you've got to be frickin fit. That requires hard work and commitment but also a focus on nutrition, hydration, sleep, and recovery. But beyond this fitness, you need to be fresh, you need a great platform of health and resiliency. Beyond your core habits, how do you know that you're primed? Imagine being able to achieve measurable results to show you that your performance is ready. It equips you to course correct and prioritize your focus to gain the biggest ROI from your effort that you possibly can achieve. Wouldn't that be pretty cool? But guess what? You can achieve all of that. It's called InsideTracker. A complete profile on all aspects of performance readiness and longevity as well. And it's very simple. It's taking a look inside your biometrics and then combining it with your personal action plan developed by the team of experts and scientists at InsideTracker. I use it for my performance longevity, the Purple Patch coaches use it, and Purple Patch athletes use it. And you can too. You should. It's highly beneficial. And it's very simple. You don't need to be a Purple Patch athlete, all you need to do is head to insidetracker.com/purplepatch. That's insidetracker.com/purplepatch. Use this sneaky code Purple Patch Pro 20 it gets you 20% off everything at the store. All right. We're talking racing mindset today. Enjoy the show.
Matt Dixon 02:22
And welcome to the Purple Patch podcast as ever. Your host, Matt Dixon. Are we ready? Should we do this thing? Shall we step up? (humming Rocky theme) It's racing season ladies and gentlemen, it begins in earnest, at least in the northern hemisphere. We've got some cracking races ahead, the big occasion, the test, the time that you're going to find out if you're worthwhile. Well, not quite it's pretty fun. It's a great opportunity to get out there and play to go challenge yourself to see what you're made of. But whether you're racing soon or not, we're going to talk about performance readiness, the mindset side of stuff, and I'm going to give you a perspective that it leads carves out some part of you showing up to something important for you. And making sure that you focus on the things that can yield the best performance possible. Now we're going to talk about racing today. But this might be about you making a big speech at work, it might be about you leading and having to stand up in front of a group and organize whatever it might be. What this is all about mindset. The racing mindset. It's going to help you have your best performance possible and make you get the best return on investment of the effort that you've put into everything that is important to you. But before we get into it, why don't we do something fun? We're gonna do Matt's News-ings?
Matt Dixon 04:02
Yes, folks, it is Matt's News-ings. And you listen today with an opportunity to get control of all of your competing demands of life, you can nail your sporting goals. We understand at Purple Patch how tough it is. Feeling like you're getting pulled in so many different directions. Training is leaving that lingering sense of fatigue across your life, maybe, perhaps you're constantly feeling like you're negotiating between the results that you want in your hobby, that's important to your sport, but the fun you want to have, and of course, the responsibilities and commitments that consume so much time in all of our lives. But guess what I'm here to tell you today, you can have it all. You see our program at Purple Patch doesn't just make you faster, it empowers you. It sets you up to feel like you're in control of all of those competing demands. It equips you so that you can show up better with more energy and feel better, and be performance-ready in all of the aspects of life that are important to you. Purple Patch athletes achieve results, but they also show up better in life. That's our mission. We do that through flexible programming, comprehensive education, and access to folks who know a thing or two about this, like myself and the full team of Purple Patch coaches. And along the way, with the ongoing support and accountability from our community of folks just like yourself, there are three simple steps that you have to take to get on board and start dialing in control and results. Number one, reach out to us info@purplepatchfitness.com Set up a complimentary call, and you can then be on a plan within 24 hours, your program can get going almost instantly. And we're so confident that you're gonna like our approach that if you don't, after 30 days, well, we'll give you your money back. What's the risk in that? Reach out to us at info@purplepatchfitness.com. And with that, I want to do Barry, the ukulele. Let's do Word of the Week.
singer 06:02
We like the way he thinks seriously about the waves. It's time to take the Dixon every word of the week.
Matt Dixon 06:17
The Word of the Week this week, something we are going to avoid at all costs - retreat. This is a call today, this week for you not to retreat. Don't back off. No matter what you're chasing in life. Guess what? It isn't easy. It's tough. Too many people seek shortcuts, hacks, and an easier path. They mistakenly believe that the Promised Land is some form of harmony, balance. worthwhile achievements require effort, investment, smart, and consistent hard work. So don't retreat. Instead, do the things under your control, to get yourself battle ready to meet the demands and leverage the high stress environment. As soon as you shift your mindset to stepping up, to matching demands, instead of trying to take a shortcut, the much greater the likelihood is your success. Retreat - It's not a word that we love at Purple Patch. And so we're going to stamp it out. That's why it's our Word of the Week so that we can kill it. All right. This week. Let's talk about stress, something that I love, because I know it's essential for growth. Let's do the meat and potatoes.
Matt Dixon 07:41
All right, it is the meat and potatoes. It is a racing mindset. early season racing begins. You are physically prepared. You've worked hard and now it's time to test your fitness. Start your engines, folks, we are a go. But what are your expectations? Are you confident? Perhaps a little bit nervous? Today we're going to unpack the racing mindset. How do you predictably bring your best on race day? Well, to answer that question, the first thing that we have to explore is training itself. What are we doing on a day-to-day basis? Why do we train? Well, we know it's good for us assuming that we have the supporting habits, and it's the appropriate dose of training. But when we strip it down to the studs, why do we train? Several elements are wrapped up in training. The first is we're applying physiological stress so that we can deliver adaptations that improve our fitness and our physiological race readiness. That's why we're doing it. We practice and train to force adaptations. We also seek to practice skills and develop race craft. In other words, the elements that are going to go into us having a more successful race. We want to leverage training for strategies around our fueling and hydration. So we're not guessing and randomly throwing fuel on our body that maybe our body doesn't agree with. We want to make it a habit. We want to rehearse the demands of racing, getting specific about the length of intervals or durations that enable our bodies and minds to get familiar with the sensations that are going to be required for us to get the results that we want. And underpinning all of this. We're doing it so that we can yield health benefits and of course, lessons in our mindset that the journey always provides that we can go and adopt and apply to daily life. So we train, beyond the health benefits beyond the aspects that help us in broader life. We train to prepare for races, and now it happens to be time to race. And so as we start to think about the mindset to help you yield the best results, why don't we set the tone? Why don't we align and synchronize on the right tone as it approaches racing?
Matt Dixon 10:21
Well, the race itself, why don't we define it in your favor, too many people view racing as something harmful, scary, fear-inducing. In fact, too many athletes approach racing like it's some big angry gorilla that's emerging from the jungle, desperate to kill them, their dreams, their aspirations, and all of their hard work. And as the day of racing starts to draw closer, any bravado or ego, that that athlete extends through their training cycles is often replaced with fear. And that little vise of anguish begins to tighten. Questions start to emerge. Am I fit enough? Am I ready? What happens if I have a bad day? Where am I going to come in my age group? I hope I don't embarrass myself, what are people gonna think of me? Here's the thing. This is something that I want you to appreciate, embrace. Let it sit around inside of you. You are in control. You're in the driver's seat. You have complete autonomy, of how you mentally approach any race. Let's put it in perspective here. This sport is a hobby, it's fun. And you're allowed to treat any race, even all the way up to the World Championships, you're allowed to treat it as the absolute epitome of fun. Because racing in your hobby doesn't define you. It's an opportunity for you to challenge yourself, and see what you can get out of your body. I want to say that again because I think that's important. It's an opportunity for you to challenge yourself, so that you can see what you can get out of your body. It's very personal. It's not a test in the spotlight, where your family honor, your self-worth, is under duress. It's an opportunity for you to see what you can get out of yourself. And therefore, racing itself is not something that defines you as a person. Let's make sure that we understand that, we appreciate it, we buy into it. Racing doesn't define you. What defines you. And all of us is how you and we treat others, how we act in day-to-day life, how we work and support our friends, and our community, and what we contribute to society. Those are the really important things. That's what defines us. That's what our legacy will be. What sort of example am I to my son, you to your son or daughter or friends, or wife or partner or husband, whatever it is. Racing doesn't define you. It is a hobby, in which it's an opportunity, a moment that you get to challenge yourself, to see what you can get out of yourself. And that's fun. Because many people in the world don't truly challenge themselves. They don't take on something where they can say, what am I made of? What can I get out of myself? -- for themselves. And that's valuable.
Matt Dixon 14:01
Now, I realize when I'm saying this, I'm not diminishing the importance of racing to you. It means a lot, it is important, it should be important. And equally, it's normal, in fact, even required, that you're going to feel nervousness, anxiety, a little bit of jitters. That's just the body priming itself to race day. But if you shift the lens on racing, from a test of self worth, into something that's fun, and a hard challenge that is sure to drive lessons for yourself and growth as you go along this performance journey, I promise you, it's all empowering. So if you get nothing else out of today's show them that setting the tone. It's something that I want us all to step into because it's liberating. And it's much higher in the likelihood that you're going to be willing to go jump off the cliff flap your arms like their wings and hope that you can fly. Because by doing that, that's the opportunity that you might just get airborne. So what does this perspective lead to? Does it mean that you're now just going to show up to race day with high confidence, bravado, even? Does it make this event really easy a cakewalk? Far from it.
Matt Dixon 15:29
A part of sport, any sport that is so magical, is the Jeopardy. Sport without Jeopardy is a real and very definite risk of challenge and struggle. And setbacks, are not really sport at all. I would argue that the heartbeat of sport is the fact that in any event, there is Jeopardy, there is no promise of success, and a whole bunch of stuff can go wrong in any sport. In any occasion, things can go wrong. And the outcome, the result can be unfavorable. And it can be unfavorable due to elements that are sometimes in your control, and sometimes out of your control. And so what that means is an acknowledgment, that I've done everything that I can up to this point to prepare myself for the day. And now I'm gonna go and do this race and shit might happen. Now, some of it might be under my control others is completely out of my control. So what do we do with that? There's no guarantee there's no promise. What do we do with it? Well, I'll tell you something that we don't do with it. There's absolutely no value in spending any time focusing or giving your mental energy to any aspects that are out of your control. Because guess what, you can't control them. So don't feed the beast there. Don't give any energy worry concern to things that are out of your control. Instead, place your emphasis your focusing your attention, on all of the things that you do have control over.
Matt Dixon 17:22
You do have control on the state and the quality of your equipment -- making sure that the bolts are tight once you've unpacked and repacked your bike, making sure that your tires don't have knots in them and little slices in them and rocks in them or thorns in them. That your gears are operational, that your shoes are proper, that your wetsuit doesn't have any tears, that you have a spare pair of goggles -- you have control over your equipment. You also have control over your fueling and hydration -- how you're eating in the days leading up, what your race breakfast is, when you're having it, and what your strategy and plan is for consuming calories if necessary during your event. And what you're going to do with hydration, understanding what you're going to do if your time is gurgling. Or if you feel dizzy and lack of motivation -- You have control on your fueling and hydration. You have control of where you're going to place your focus, not about things around the outcome or what happens if I go wrong, but where you're going to place your mindset. We're going to get to that later in today's show. You have control over your pacing. And you have control over your commitment, your commitment to the process. And the fact that you are going to troubleshoot when you are inevitably out of control, or in control, you're going to be faced with adversity. Those are aspects that you can control -- commitments, pacing, mindset, fueling, hydration, equipment -- all that stuff. And when you commit to this, I promise you that it's empowering, because you're filtering noise and distractions. And you're placing your energy, that you realize that you have an impact on the outcome of that. And that's confidence building. What it provides is control. Oh lo and behold, focusing on the things that you have control over delivers a sense of control -- isn't that wonderful? Pretty simple yeah? When you're under control, you develop confidence. Oh, and you also have a much greater capacity to manage things that may well happen that are then out of your control -- a flat tire, a penalty, a cramp, whatever it might be -- things that you happened, that happened to you in racing, that you don't really have much control over. You have capacity because you're controlling the things you can control. Pretty simple. So that's the first answer to the question. You don't have to come in brimming with confidence and bravado. You can still have anxiety, but you can develop control and confidence by focusing on elements that you have autonomy over.
Matt Dixon 20:09
With all that then the second part of the question was, does that make it all a cakewalk? Easy? Let me tell you a story. Recently, I was consulting with a collegiate athlete, a division one rower, named Ali. She's very, very good. And I tell you what, she is tough and she's committed. And she had as a part of her team, a two kilometer time trial on the rowing ergometer. And goodness me was she nervous. She told me that her mind was dancing. And it danced between, on one side, real anxiety, believing that this was just going to be a failure. And the other side flipping to, this is going to be a cakewalk. I'm ready for this, there's going to be no problem piece of cake. So right at that point, we paused. And she hoped that I was just going to deliver some magic words that would make her confident all of a sudden, well, I kind of did, but not in the way that she anticipated because I asked her to reflect on the challenge that she had in front of her -- two kilometers, as fast as she could row, two kilometers as fast as she could go. By definition, Ali, that is never, ever going to be easy. Let’s acknowledge it, it's going to be fricking hard, it's going to hurt, and you are going to be under duress. And it means Ali that you're going to have to suffer, it is never going to be a cakewalk. And that's okay.
Matt Dixon 21:54
To execute well, the first thing you need to do around racing, or in Ali's case a 2k time trial, is to accept and acknowledge. Don't try and diminish the challenge, that's just lying to yourself. Free yourself out by acknowledging this is going to be frickin hard. Now, just like Ali, your race is going to be frickin hard. It's not going to be easy. And that's what makes it worthwhile. That's what makes it worthwhile. She acknowledged. Yeah, it's not going to be a cakewalk. 50% of my mind space was trying to persuade myself knowing that I was lying to myself that it was going to be easy. But it's going to be hard. I said, Yes, can be hard. So how then Ali? How should we approach it? And I think her answer was gold. Because she replied with a question back to me, shall we think about ways that I can approach it to help success? Yeah, how bout that? Let's do that. She was empowered. She was back in control, what can I do under my control to lead me to be successful? So for the next five or 10 minutes, we discussed tactical approaches, what her mindset should be, what she should focus on, to do something very simple to get the boat -- or the rowing ergometer, but you get it,-- the boat to go from A to B as fast as possible. And when we went through all of the tactics, and we established the mindset that she could buy into and understand what she was going to focus on, I then asked her to very simply commit and that commitment was simple. As soon as the gun goes off, as soon as her time trial starts, no matter how she feels, no matter what's happening. I asked that she remain committed to a simple quest, the quest of what this time trial is. And that is to consistently try and get from A to B as fast as possible, no matter what happens. And so Ali, and you can too, Ali developed the mindset and strategy to meet the demands of her challenge. She isn't trying to diminish the challenge. There's no seeking of a shortcut. Instead, she's focusing on stepping up and excelling in the face of the challenge. And that's what erasing challenge is for you. But you might say, but I don't like pain. It's horrible. It doesn't feel good. I hope it doesn't hurt too much. And I get that I understand. No one likes the feeling of high stress. No one enjoys pain, at least most of us don't enjoy pain. But if you want to be successful, discomfort is a part of success. You're gonna have to get, as they like to say, comfortable being uncomfortable. And so let's build an evolved relationship around a component that is going to be a part of you having a breakthrough.
Matt Dixon 25:16
Pain is a signal, it is a protective mechanism aiming to stop you, or something, from harming your body. Now, most people, unfortunately, amplify the impact of pain. And they do it because they have a fear and negative relationship with it. But pain in itself, I promise you is not that harmful. It's not harmful at all. It's a signal. It's normal. And it's anticipated as a part of any challenge. And so today, I encourage you to develop a positive relationship with pain. When you get uncomfortable in a race, whether it's Ali in her 2k time trial, whether it's you in the middle of your marathon or Ironman, many athletes, when you feel the signal of pain, start to panic, they push it out, they think of it as something harmful and negative, they will go away, what can I do to get the pain to go away. But pain ultimately, is a signal of you doing something great. And shifting towards a positive perspective on it can be powerful. And so try something when you do get uncomfortable in racing, welcome the signal, acknowledge it, don't run away, don't tighten up. Don't try and push it out of your body, it is going to be a part of the party. So instead of trying to push it out, or hide from it, welcome it in, allow it to swim around the body, accept it as a part of the equation, something normal, and keep your determined focus on the aspects that you can control. Pain is there. But it doesn't have to distract you from where you're placing your energy.
Matt Dixon 27:21
Now, there is an outlier. And it goes without saying, I'm not talking about the type of pain that creates real injury or illness. So I guess I should put the disclaimer in here and right now so that I don't - to prevent this confusion. But the normal pain associated with effort. When you're uncomfortable, maybe next time in training, or your upcoming race, welcome it into the body, work with it, and then place your emphasis on the things that you can control. And that your mindset to racing -- shift the tone to something that's an opportunity, don't try and diminish the challenge, allow it to be fun, and then when things get uncomfortable, welcome the pain and the discomfort as a part of the process to excellence.
Matt Dixon 28:19
So let's just finish with a couple of key tactics that will help you in your performance. Because I say welcome the pain and I say place the focus on things that you can control, but what are those things? Well, I can wrap them up into three memorable aspects. And these three memorable aspects are personal to you and are different for everyone, but help facilitate race day performance. Confidence emerges from this. And so I'm going to go through one by one. Number one, don't expect perfection. Just don't expect perfection. I've coached about 50 pro athletes more than 1,500 qualified to world championship races, multiple world champions, not one of them ever had a perfect race. So don't chase it. Just get ready before the race to give it everything you can on the day. Manage the situations and the adversity and the challenges as they emerge, because that's racing. But if you give your very best without chasing perfection, you've got the best opportunity for dream outcomes.
Matt Dixon 29:27
Number two, is the commitment to remember what we talked about with Ali. The quest was simple. The gun goes off -- I need to get from A to B to kilometers of rowing as fast as I possibly can. Well, in triathlon or marathon running or anything else, no matter what happens in or out of your control, you can commit. You can commit to getting from A to B as fast as you can, from solving challenges, no matter what happens. And I can promise you that when you have this mindset and commitment, it is the only path where you are promised, absolutely promised, and pride in the effort you put in. And you are also promised lessons to help you develop in the future. Without this commitment, there are no promises. There's certainly no promises of outcome, regardless jeopardy of sport and all that, remember. But if you make this commitment, and you stick by this commitment, A to B as fast as you can, no matter what happens, the one promise I can make is that you will be satisfied, because you did everything under your control to your best effort. And you will also receive the reward of lessons to build on for next time. And that's part of the fabric of success.
Matt Dixon 30:48
And finally, one key tactical component -- never think about how you're doing during the event. Focus on what you need to do to keep moving forward as quickly as you can. It's very simple. There's absolutely no value in judging or guessing how my day is going. That's just a distraction. It's just noise. And so as you focus on the doing, and you're welcome pain to the party, what are the three things that you can focus on? Your form -- so how you're doing what you're doing. You're fueling -- in other words, managing your energy and hydration to keep the output as high as possible, and your pacing -- how you distribute your effort across the duration of the discipline or event to maximize your speed return and of course, minimize how long the event takes. Your form, your fueling, your pacing -- and that ladies and gentleman is racing.
Matt Dixon 31:52
Now, that's kind of it. Apart from the most important thing that I'm going to tell you today. There is one more thing as you depart the show, and tie up your shoes to get ready for the race, I want you to remember, that this is the most important thing, you're ready. You're allowed to enjoy it. Yes, you're allowed to enjoy it. Let's take a pause. There is a whole bunch of nonsense in the world right now. There is, isn't there? There's some terrible stuff going on. And our society is probably divided more than it ever has been. There's too much suffering. We can all acknowledge that. And yet, you know what we get to go and do. We get to go and play. We get to go and race. So why don't we have a little gratitude? Shift their perspective to positive. Commit to having fun, because I promise you, if you're having fun and you're doing the things under your control, it is the surefire route to optimize the outcome, no matter what the day throws at you.
Matt Dixon 33:10
Best of luck out there, of course, to everyone, but especially my Purple Patch folk. Alright, guys, I hope that helps set the mindset. Go have fun. I'd love to hear how you do. Reach out to us on our socials @PurplePatch on Twitter, @PurplePatchFitness on Instagram and all of those components. I'd love to hear how your racing goes. And also what challenges do you have, because maybe I can help in upcoming shows? Best of luck out there. Have fun. We'll see you out in the course. Take care.
Matt Dixon 33:41
Guys, thanks so much for joining. And thank you for listening, I hope that you enjoyed the new format. You can never miss an episode by simply subscribing, head to the Purple Patch channel of YouTube and you'll find it there and you can subscribe. Of course, I'd like to ask you, if you will subscribe also share it with your friends. And it's really helpful if you leave a nice positive review in the comments. Now any questions, let me know feel free to add a comment and I will try my best to respond and support you on your performance journey. And, as we commence this video podcast experience, if you have any feedback at all, as mentioned earlier in the show, we would love your help in helping us to improve. Simply email us at info@purplepatchfitness.com or leave it in the comments of the show on the Purple Patch page and we will get you dialed in. We'd love constructive feedback. We are in a growth mindset as we like to call it. And so feel free to share with your friends. But as I said, Let's build this together. Let's make it something special. It's really fun. We're trying hard to make it a special experience. And we want to welcome you into the Purple Patch community. With that, I hope you have a great week. Stay healthy, have fun, keep smiling, doing whatever you do. Take care.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
racing, control, race, mindset, patch, challenge, pain, focus, purple, fun, commitment, cakewalk, simple, performance, fueling, hydration, Ali, sport, promise, fact