Dare to Tri Affirmations ?

What's your dream ? If you're a triathlete, distance runner, endurance swimmer or cyclist chances are you have a personally important race date in 2012 or 2013 already fixed in your mind. The longer the event distance or the greater your desire to improve means more planning, training and preparation. Dreaming of a cycling century ride, a marathon or Ironman 2 or 3 years distant is the easy part : - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, June 2015. Easy. Even using the Visa card to book the entry slot is relatively painless (at the time - if not when the bill arrives !). But doing that strength and conditioning session, stretching, an early morning swim set or completing a scheduled long run on a gloomy Tuesday in February ? Often not so easy.

Reaching the event date in your best condition or achieving an outstanding performance is a series of good decisions. These small good decisions build into best performance eg. packing your kit the night before, logging your workouts, good meal choices day after day, disciplined sleeptime, keeping in mind the purpose and best outcome of every workout - and prioritising training events to make sure they happen. For me it's a constant struggle to find the time for workouts. But - this is my choice and too often I'm choosing worklife over "real-life". If I prepared better and focused more I'd leave on time more often and gain a better life-balance. I need a constant reminder to make time for what I value.

So just how do we breakdown life into manageable short term goals and, day by day, "hold onto the dream" that leads us to those major landmarks in our lives ? While formal goal setting itself is critical you should also consider Affirmations as a tool. The "Queen" of affirmations seems to be someone called Louise L Hay. In her "I can do it" book she writes ...

"An affirmation is really anything you say and think. A lot of what we normally say and think is quite negative and and doesn't create good experiences for us. We have to retrain our thinking and speaking into positive patterns if we want to change our lives. Every thought you think and every word you speak is an affirmation. All of our self talk, our internal dialogue, is a stream of affirmations. You need to pay attention to your thoughts so that you can begin to eliminate the ones creating experiences you do not want in your life. However it's time for all of us to wake up and begin to consciously create our lives in away that pleases and supports us. "

This technique is perhaps under-used because it seems quite self-absorbed or at least self-indulgent. Perhaps a touch saccharine for inhibited UK Ango-Saxon types. Linda Wallenfels on trifuel.com writes ...

" Some people have difficulty with affirmations. They feel they are deceiving themselves when they make statements about something that may be true in the future, but is not true now. The Tao philosophy states, affirmations are not self-deception but self-direction".

Done properly affirmations can be a potent and constant reminder of why we do what we do and why it's important to us in the first place. To begin with the process of introspection actually helps us define what we value so we can put energy doing more of it.  So time taken writing affirmations can help us to confront our existing choices and places our decisions into context.

Think of it a different way - do you have a "power song" or a playlist you use on your MP3 ? You probably have this to motivate you - to get you out the door in the morning or to put in that extra effort to get through a tough workout. That you put that song there and use it in training is partly a recognition that you benefit from help to achieve those tough goals. Affirmations can pull us back to what we hold as important and to inspire progress towards what we value.  Remez Sasson has this definition...

Affirmations are positive statements that describe a desired situation, and which are repeated many times, in order to impress the subconscious mind and trigger it into positive action. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the affirmations, they have to be repeated with attention, conviction, interest and desire.

Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter writes :
Whenever you want to maximize your chances of getting the results you want, affirmations are one of the fastest ways to arrive there. If you want to create real changes in the way you train and compete, use affirmations to:

• Improve concentration

• Relax and sleep well

• Build self-confidence

• Accelerate learning of athletic skills

• Deal with fear and negativity

• Heal quickly from injuries

• Increase endurance and strength

• Train faster and lighter

There is an excellent (and free) podcast explaining affirmations from Bevan James Eyles - find it here to download. You'll also be able to find a PDF worksheet to work through on the site & it's great value for money & easy to access. Listen to the podcast then give yourself a clear afternoon to get maximum impact from the worksheet.

If you remain in any doubt that affirmations can work for you then think of the opposite effect ie. negative thoughts, negative attitude or negative speech. Remember the quote from Henry Ford : “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right.”  We all recognise the danger of negative speech when dealing with family or work colleagues. If we are carelessly negative we so often lower the self-esteem, confidence and motivation of others - it's the same with our "self talk". You wouldn't talk yourself "down" ahead of an important athletic or social event would you ?


Affirmations help to talk ourselves "up". Livestrong.Com have an excellent summary article (here) which gives many examples of negative scripts and positive self-affirmations.  Bevan James Eyles starts the process by asking us to think about inspirational quotes which already have meaning for us. We all have these sayings. They could be from any part of your life eg. a religous quote, Shakespeare, a family saying - the Simpsons even ! Something inspirational I read recently was from a talk given by Chrissie Wellington and relayed by Simon Ward -

Q. How many hours do you train each week Chrissie ?
A. 168

A 168 hour training week sums up Chrissie's attitude perfectly - every decison she makes throughout that week is related to her training and her training is designed to deliver the goals which are important to her. Ward writes :

There is the physiological training which probably occupies 25-35 hours per week but then even when she’s not engaged in these everything else she does is geared towards making these hours as productive as possible.  For example – eating (which involves choosing the right food for refuelling and repair), stretching, relaxing, sleeping, planning) she admits to being anally retentive and obsessive but in my experience this could apply to most successful athletes in a range of sports and similar traits are shared by the most successful entrepreneurs and entertainers.

Other examples of quotes that might make it onto your worksheet  :

• Be the change you want to see in the world
• Think Win Win
• Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
• Does it matter that it matters ? - Prioritize what is truely important.
• Focus on your strengths
• Ever tried ? Ever failed ? No Matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
• The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it.

The importance of chosen inspirational quotes (eg. here) are that they have a deep resonance with your own personality and values. Keeping you reminded of them helps you to choose the behaviours that flow from those values.

Bevan's worksheet will guide you through a process that helps you identify the behaviours or habits that "work best" for you & which you want to do more often. These are habits that will help to deliver those big life goals and help eliminate "stuff" that gets in the way. In my own world it can be as simple as knowing that I'm at my best in the morning ; that I am more productive when I have a prioritized workplan for the day (set the day before) and that I feel at my best when I eat along paleo lines. Certainly I feel most alive and energized (and actually work better) on the days I complete a structured workout session. I also want to keep the main goals in sight to ensure I have the right context.

While Bevan is focused on getting you to explore, understand and write down your chosen affirmations (so you can refer to them daily) he also describes reading them while listening to a motivational song - some music that thrills or uplifts. It is possible to go a step further and select a playlist that you can use in the car on the way to work or even during an excercize . Endurance athletes spend so much time training that this is a great way to keep affirmations in your mind. Affirmations are dynamic and will change over time - they evolve as your life situation and your own goal-set changes. Review them every 3 months to keep them fresh. If you weave them around your own inspirational songs it can be a very powerful motivation. Take this example from Julie (running her 1st marathon in Oct):

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Podsafe Playlist provided by MusicAlley.Com and featured ...

Hope is Calling, Fishing for Comets

Get Up & Go Out, Senor Happy 

Happy, Jerico 

See the Sun, Black Lab 

Fly Fly Fly, Adrina Thorpe

One Million Dollar Theme, The Dead Rocks

You could download this from here. So what's on my PowerList ? That's a very personal question but since almost no-one will ever read this or get this far ....  here goes my London 2012 Marathon list ...........

• Feeling Good, Nina Simone
• Don't need to justify this selection if you're a human being and alive you'll get it !
• I Like The Way You Move, Bodyrockers
• Upbeat, blood pumping, positive, the sheer joy of athletic movement
• River Deep, Mountain High, Glee or Tina Turner
• The joy of a life lived with Dearly Beloved (and a spooky puppy reference)
• Hot, Avril Lavigne
• A reflection on how just how lucky a guy can get (see above).  
• Bohemian Like You, The Dandy Warhols
• Free, easy, original & carefree. Just like Tom (and a spooky cooking reference)  
• Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, The Blues Brothers
• Mum, Sister, wider family & the amazing people I work, swim & train with
• Come as You Are, Beverley Knight
• Involve who I can when I can - no barriers to entry - infinite approachability 
• Proud, Heather Small
• Keeping focused on the major goals but respecting the steps that get you there
• 100 Years, Five For Fighting
• Remember life is fragile and fleeting - make the most of every moment
• Right Here Right Now (Freemasons Remix), Fatboy Slim
• This moment is all there ever is - what can I do to make the best of this situation - Right Here, Right Now (remember brain training from DareToTriLife Book Club ?)
• Planetary (GO!), My Chemical Romance
• Hugely energiziing. You can achieve anything after this track. No limits. Let yourself loose on the world.

Get the idea ? Enjoy Julie's Affirmations - think this could work for you ? If you'd like help in setting up your own Affirmations PowerList I suggest you start with Bevan's podcast & worksheet (link above). Then scan YouTube for some motivational speechs / texts. Julie (above) used Steve Jobs and Lance Armstrong. There's loads of great content out there. Select your own "power songs" from your library and c'est fini. If you want help in doing any of this drop an Email to DareToTriLife@GMail.Com 

Need more on Affirmations ? Try here  ...

Paris Marathon : 10th April 2011

It's official. Today marks the start of formal training for the Paris Marathon on 10th April 2011. Training plans have been established and this will be an “A” race for me in 2011. The exciting part is that this will be a “family” trip for me with my sister attending. Rachel has been bitten by the fitness bug and has agreed to do the breakfast run 5k the day before the marathon. It is so great to have her a part of this project. I hope she'll update us on the 5k training throughout.

I managed 3.15.29 in Barcelona in March 2010 and would love to get closer to the magic 3.00.00. That will be the training plan and there it is – stated in black & white and now out there on the blogsphere. The last 4 weeks have been baseline training weeks with low intensity workouts 4 /5 times a week. I am worried by an achilles complaint on my left foot and was very keen to ease back into training gently. Last week's training is below.

 As my next "A" race in 2011 will hopefully be a half-iron triathlon I am determined not to let swimming slip – as I did last year. Also last week I re-tested my cycle fitness and I don't want to lose that either. I guess I'm just going to have to be more efficient at work to find the time.

If you are considering a marathon I recommend a city race – Barcelona was outstanding – there is so much to see as you run and it's a brilliant distraction. In fact I completely recommend Barcelona – full stop. It was a fantastic experience. Sadly this year was my 5th failed attempt to make it to the London Marathon and this was the year they changed the rules which formerly granted automatic entry to anyone refused 5 times. It's a race I would love to do and yet I don't feel comfortable about going for a charity “golden ticket”. I raised funds in 2008 during the TriForLeticia (see blogpost here) and don't want to annoy friends and family for another year or two. It may surprize you that the Paris marathon has a history almost as long as Boston.

On Sunday the 19th of July 1896, crowds gathered at porte Maillot for the first French marathon, which brought together 191 participants. This was the first French marathon, run over just 40 km separating Paris from Conflans, the organisers, the Petit Journal, decided to award a commemorative medal to all runners who finished the race in under 4 hours. Why 40 kilometres? Simply because this was the distance separating Marathon from Athens; the current distance of the competition (42,195 km) is simply that of the London Olympic marathon (1908).

Which brings us nicely to the reason why the marathon distance is 26 miles and 385 yrds. The seemingly arbitrary distance was that adopted for the marathon at the1908 Summer Olympics in London. Of course the name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides,the Greek messenger. Poor old Pheidippides was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the 490 BC Battle of Marathon (and in which he himself had just fought). It is claimed that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "Νενικήκαμεν" = 'We have won.' before collapsing and dying. I know how he felt ! Anyway in November 1907 (ahead of the Olympics) a route of approx that distance was published in the newspapers, starting at Windsor Castle and finishing at the White City Stadium, Shepherd's Bush. There were protests about the final few miles because of tram-lines and cobbles, so the route was revised to cross the rough ground of Wormwood Scrubs. This lengthened the route, as did plans to make the start 700 yards from Queen Victoria's statue in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Thereafter it was decided to fix the distance at 26 miles (42 km) to the stadium, plus a lap of the stadium track (586 yards, 2 feet). But in order that the spectators, including Queen Alexandra, could have the best view of the final yards, the direction of running was changed to "right-hand inside" (i.e. clockwise). This meant the distance in the stadium was shortened to 385 yards, and the total distance became 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km). And so it is today - bet you didn't know all that ? Lets see how week 1 turns out then.......