Competition prep – 1 week out

Get It Right Between the Ears

You’ve done the training, fueled your body appropriately, and done everything you can to optimise your recovery leading up to your competition. That checks off all the boxes –

except for one: Mindset.

Your body might be primed, but in order to perform your best at anything, you need to get right between the ears.

So how can you prepare your mind for a big physical test?

First off, separate the hard work that went into getting in shape for the big event from the results. The effort that went into your training doesn’t simply boil down to how you stack up on a leaderboard.

For most of us, our performance during an amateur event (Like the CrossFit Open, Quest Race or Marathon) is not something our livelihoods depend on. These are great tests to push us out of our comfort zone, but the results shouldn’t matter as much as the work that we put in during our training.

Go into the competition/event knowing that you either did the work to prepare. Trust the hours you put in and don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself—that could actually be detrimental to your performance.

Finally, you should also prepare to go into uncharted territory. We train to push ourselves out of our comfort zone, but one of the reasons we test ourselves in a more competitive setting is so we can push beyond the level we’re able to reach in training.

It will get uncomfortable and that’s OK. That’s the point. There are powerful lessons we can take away from pushing that hard from time to time. Embrace the competitive setting and prepare your mind to wade into waters you’ve never quite experienced before.