Segment 6: A Champion’s Mindset
Know the game you’re playing
The mindset of a champion is not just a privilege of fast people, it’s a mindset they’ve earned through hard work, exploration, and coming up short. When I speak about champions, don’t confuse that with talent, winning, or ease. The mindset of a champion doesn’t guarantee success, PRs, it only guarantees that they will push themselves deeper into a hole than their competitor because they ache for the opportunity to race, train, and grit it out side by side into the finish line. Champions know pain and aren’t afraid to experience it but don’t think a champion hurts any less than you do on race day. Champions are everywhere - they are the people who go to The Edge and are fueled by a purpose and purpose inspires toughness! Most people can’t endure the pain required to achieve big dreams but people with a powerful purpose can.
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
Your why is something that can’t be taken from you by the time on the clock. So when we say your “why” - it’s going to be the reason you get out of bed on cold mornings in February and March to get the miles in. It’s the same reason you suffer in the heat through workouts in July and August. It’s not just for a PR, that’s far too small - your “why” is a bigger dream. When you understand why you’re grinding, sweating, and pushing - you can begin to understand your greater purpose in training. You begin to see the world through a different lens. The mindset of people who slack off, show up late and don’t go all in moves from being friends to frustrations. Champions at times can find themselves on an island or frustrated even if they aren’t the fastest in the room - they will be the hardest working.
The 2 Opponents
Every runner is racing against the clock, the course, and 2 unseen and often unspoken opponents. They lurk in the dark and they come to us in the moments just after we close our eyes, filling us with anxiety and panic. These opponents inspire pictures of loss, coming up short, and deliver a dreadful ache in our hearts. These opponents are here to steal out confidence and break us down - they don’t want us to succeed or win. They are the 2 greatest limiting beliefs the world has ever seen.
The Fear of Failure
The Fear of Judgement
In all my years as a coach, I have seen these two fears steal championships, podiums, and PRs. I’ve also seen these fears stomped out and buried in a hole never to be seen again. The hardest step is confronting these fears. You must understand that being fearless doesn’t mean you have less fear. It means that you choose to operate and make decisions that aren’t based on your fears. Understand that if you feed into your fears, they own you and control you.
The Long Game: Delayed Gratification
If Failure and Judgment are your opponents, the game you’re playing is rooted in work that takes weeks, months, and years to pay off. Macklemore said it best: “The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint. The greats were great because they paint a lot”. When an athlete comes to me frustrated after their first season and they’re frustrated with how it went - I often ask them if Picasso’s first finger painting made it into a museum. If they had fridges in the 1880’s, it probably barely would have made it under a magnet.
The point is that endurance sports are a game of delayed gratification, reps, and countless hours of repetition. If you went out and got exactly what you came for in your first race or season, you didn’t set your sights high enough. Champions set their sights just out of what they think is possible, with every rep, every mile, and every race - they get a little closer to achieving what was just out of reach. True champions aren’t sitting around looking at what could go wrong, you must suffer from being an optimist. You must have a vision of your success that overrides your vision of failure - see it to believe it - then go be it!
A worthy rival
I remember the first time I had a rival competitor. - we’ll call him Mike. I was 13, and I had to wrestle in a dual meet in our gym - I remember looking up at the gym lights and the bark of my coach screaming “SIMMONS - ARCH YOUR BACK” from the sideline as if that was going to do anything to slow Mike from pinning me to the floor like a tack. I would face this same opponent 6 times over the season in countless tournaments throughout the season. Last season, I knew the moment we shook hands it was time to brace for impact, I was in for the ride of my life. I couldn’t break away from the dream state of fighting in a dream. I could hear my coach bark at me to go for a takedown. I distinctly remember thinking - “Coach, are you serious? Let’s just hope the doctors know how to reattach my arm after he uses it to throw me across the mat”. I was paralyzed because every time we faced off last season, I didn’t make it out of the first period. I felt like I might as well lay on my back at the start just to get it over with. I still loved the sport but I hated that moment where I had to lock eyes with him - I swear my eyes had to be as wide as saucers. My fear was clear, my attempts at a takedown were small annoyances that simply slowed him to his victory.
After that last season, I was hanging my head low enough I could have tripped on it. I walked into the first day of zero hour - questioning why I got up at 5 am to come get my head kicked in for another year. I can remember Coach McCloughan who retired years before showing up in the gym at 6am to lead a lift or work on drills and technique. He saw me walk in and said - “Simmons, it’s time you got off your back and started fighting for something in your matches”. That statement resonated with me for weeks every morning and during conditioning. I started showing up and I had a goal - to simply make it on Varsity for a single match.
You can guess Ruben would come up with an injury - our home meet. The story would have been perfect for Disney if Mike was my opponent when I finally did make it on Varsity; I’m sorry to disappoint you it was just another gangly high schooler. I remember almost nothing about that match other than it was by decision for 3 full rounds. I remember talking with Coach Verhey afterward and he said: “A different version of you showed up on the mat tonight”. Reflecting back on that moment, I walked out with a purpose, a focus, and a desire to win. Which was different than my desire to simply try and not lose by too much or in too embarrassing a way.
The next time I faced off against Mike, I still lost and I made it out of first period. After that loss - we’d go back and forth the rest of the season. He’d win a match in a tournament, and I’d beat him at a quad. We would go back and forth all season, I don’t remember who ultimately had more wins but every time we’d be matched up I knew one thing for certain, Mike was going to bring out the best in me. I went from fearing him to getting excited for a chance to try and challenge his weaknesses.
A worthy rival is someone who brings out the best in you, someone who tests you. Someone who forces you to reinvent yourself and make you better because they stand in the way of a goal or simply ask you to step up your game. These people can be the best training partners, opponents, and friends. When you can step back and realize you’re mad because they are testing you and making you use every play in your playbook you begin to grow an appreciation for someone who makes you better. You don’t need to fall in love with your rival - you simply need to appreciate them and celebrate them for what they bring out in you. A worthy rival simply asks for nothing but your best.
Champions understand what’s most important
As we chase success, we often find ourselves working hard to avoid disappointing others. This means that we can find ourselves feeling hollow and questions why we put so much effort into a sport that can beat us up, consume our time, and pull us in competing directions. As a beginner, you won't see yourself as a successful athlete because you first measure your success against others. As you grow, you begin to measure your success against past performances. To achieve greater performance, you will have to sacrifice. Eventually, you'll find yourself wondering if your sacrifice is worth the effort?
Who gets to decide what success means?
How do you define success?
What's really important to you?
The guide above will help you better understand what you’re sacrificing to be at the top. As we’ve discussed in previous segments, friends and family may not understand you, your goals, and why you give up what you do to become the best you can be. I take athletes through this exercise because it’s important to understand that we are always seeking balance as athletes. This can look like taking a weekend to rest your body, reconnect with friends, and allow your body to recharge mentally and physically. What is key is having the awareness and ability to reflect on the areas that may need your attention. If you find yourself digging too deep in the well of training, you could be sacrificing relationships, friendships, or necessary time to recover and recharge.
High performers tend to keep a small network and tight group of friends. You could say that it makes it easier keep in contact with a handful of people instead of a maddening crowd who are pulling your attention away form your goals. This doesn’t mean you need to cut your friend group in half or remove responsibilities and commitments. What it means is that you need to take a look at how you’re spending your time and prioritize the people and things that are really important to you. I have watched athletes book themselves minute by minute, month after month and once they hit winter or summer break - they are burnt to a crisp and are not enjoying the process of training.
Helping Multi-Sport Athletes Find Balance
Take the time to prioritize and analyze where you want to spend your time. Having worked with numerous multi-sport athletes - they often feel conflicted with how much play time or training time they get. To play in a soccer game they may have to give up multiple races in a season and vice versa. They may end up missing workouts in one sport to keep commitments to their “A” sport and balancing this can be tough. You’re not just managing your physical energy but managing expectations, team standards, and the needs of your team and coaches. This pressure can create an overwhelming and crushing force where you break because you “can’t do it all”. This break is a direct result of 1) not prioritizing 2) not effectively communicating your priorities 3) setting reasonable boundaries. Set boundaries and communicating your priorities takes practice but can look like this:
1) I can only make practice Tuesday and Thursday this week. I will be able to make games every saturday starting next week.
2) I will be leaving early today so I can make my game. I’ll miss the end of practice - I’m happy to help lead warm up and take the Freshman out on the short loop before I have to leave. I’ll check in with you before I leave.
3) I understand that I’m going to miss practice the 2 days leading into the meet. I know your policy on attendance and racing. As a dual sport athlete, I am trying to balance my commitment to both teams (soccer and running). If Coach Williams (soccer) show my attendance, are you willing to let me race Varsity?
Sometimes the best approach is to create a dialogue with your coaches and tell them what you’d like to do. The key is helping them see how you’re leading or benefiting the team. Recognize how your coach may interpret common frustrations for a dual sport athlete - attendance, perceived commitment, and effort. The best thing you can do is get ahead of these thoughts and share how you can make an impact when you are at practice.
