Tips to manage your ultra-endurance mindset

The term mindset refers to a set of beliefs and thoughts that influence how we approach things.

It’s a mind-filter that we see and experience our world through, and it profoundly influences the way we behave and perform.

When we describe people as being generally negative or positive, what we’re really describing is their default mindset.

As an ultra-endurance cyclist your mindset is either a performance enhancer or a performance detractor.

Your ultra-endurance mindset is not fixed

Your mindset isn’t fixed, it’s a habit.

It’s a self-reinforcing loop of beliefs and thoughts that’s easy to get caught in. You start to believe your beliefs!

I’ll give you a simple example from my early ultra-endurance years.

Racing through the complete night is a challenge for the beginner ultra-cyclist.

I was no different. I was strong up to 1AM, and then as regular as the milkman I would be forced off my bike for a significant sleep stop, whereas my competitors could keep moving forward.

Sleep deprivation beat me every time.

As a consequence, I developed a set of beliefs that kicked in every time I approached 1AM.

I would tell myself, ‘get ready, here it comes’, and I would tense, to try to muscle through it, again.

Most beginner ultra-cyclists try to muscle through, around or over an obstacle.

We tense to overcome, and it usually doesn’t end well.

It was seriously affecting my endurance performance.

Adopting a flexible mindset

It was years before I caught on to the following simple piece of wisdom – the most important characteristic to have within a performance mindset is flexibility.

A flexible mind is a curious mind.

If I can’t overcome sleep deprivation, how can I work with it?

The first thing that happens when you cultivate a flexible mindset is that multiple options appear, things that you couldn’t see before, because you were tense and rigid.

Your way forward lies in one of those options.

When you change the way you think about a thing….

…. the thing you are thinking about changes.

I don’t try to overcome sleep deprivation any more. That old mindset is long gone.

As I head towards 1AM, I explore my options. How best can I manage this night? Should I adjust my pace? Can I alter something to keep me more alert? What can I focus on? Who can I rely on?

No night is ever the same

So if you’re struggling with an obstacle, soften the way you think about it.

If you stand back a bit, or blur the edges, what else might you see?

I guarantee that you’ll find a way to negotiate and manage your obstacles, all while keeping the bike moving forward.

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I’m an ultra-endurance cycling coach. If you’ve got ultra-ambitions and need experience and expertise on your side, contact me and let’s talk.