Thoughts

Becoming Process Focused

To enjoy your racing and perform to your maximum capacity, Tribal recommends being process-focused rather than outcome-focused. This allows you to see ups and downs as tip-off’s to becoming a stronger triathlete, rather than being obsessed by a difficult to achieve time goal.

Outcome or Process Focused?

Signs of an Outcome Focus:

You focus on a highly ambitious, perhaps unrealistic, time goal.

Your confidence as a triathlete is based on race times. You’re driven by how people will view your achievements.

Your routine is strict—you train through pain and risk injury.

You measure race-day success in terms of times and placing. If you miss a goal time, you feel like a failure.

Signs of a Process Focus:

Your time goal is based on training times and recent races. You also focus on Form, Pace and Fuel.

Your confidence is based on your ability to execute a race plan, your progress and development as a triathlete, and the role triathlon plays in your life.

When you notice a potential sign of trouble, you back off and give your body time to rest.

You measure race-day success based partly on times and placing, but also on the experience—what you can learn and how you can apply it to future races. See Post-Race Analysis.

Developing Winning Thoughts for Racing

Encourage-

Gratitude, Relaxation, Enjoyment and fun.

Staying connected to your task and in the moment.

Beneficial thoughts should all be based upon your Form, Pace and Fuelling targets.

Focus upon things that are 100% in your control.

Strategies for coping when you reach difficult moments.

Avoid-

Comparing to others.

Dreaming of the finish.

Pushing for an unrealistic time.

Becoming disheartened by an outcome during a race.

Masking discomfort or pain.