I remember sitting in the audience when Paula Newby-Fraser made her acceptance speech. Suprised to hear that she had to give herself a “talking to” half way through the Hawaii Ironman run. She was leading at the time.

She told the audience, she stopped, thought she could not go on. She was leading by a good margin. She said to herself, “Paula, pull yourself together, you can do it”. She went on to win.

Paula is the athlete with the greatest number of victories in the Hawaii Ironman. If Paula has patches of self doubt, accept that it’s normal to sometimes doubt yourself. During a race and in the weeks leading into major race.

I have coached athletes of all levels. It may suprise some that the athletes most likely to speak to their coach about self doubt, are the most talented. I think there are two reasons for this.

First, the most talented athletes develop a close partnership with their coaches and are more likely to discuss these things.

Secondly, high achievers have high expectations. High expectations can put greater pressure on an athlete to perform. Not only our own expectations, but the expectations of others can cause us to sometimes doubt our abilities. 

If the “self doubt monster” creeps into your mind, be ready, expect him. The enemy who suprises you has an instant advantage. If you’re expecting the enemy, you’re ready, it’s like an ambush. Have your ammunition ready.

The ammunition you need to beat self doubt is, evidence of your readiness. Evidence of the thorough preparation you’ve done. Evidence of your ability, your strengths. Think of what your coach says that snaps you out of self doubt. It’s all of the above.

You may not have access to your coach at that “moment of need”, but if you have been keeping a diary. Recording all the achievements, all of the “wins” in training. If you only record “what went right”, that’s what you’ll find when you look back through it.

It’s a mistake to record “what went wrong”, we don’t need to be reminded of the negatives. Recording all the positives, prints the message into our subconcious mind. Lots of little reinforcements add up to a strong core of self belief.

I prefer a diary written by hand, on paper. The old fashioned way. It’s real. It’s accessable whether you’re in a strange country, in an airport lounge, on a flight. You can be sitting on a beach, alone, the day before a major event, you can flick through the pages of your diary and relive a few of “the wins” you’ve experienced.

Every time you have a win, search for an affirmation which can connect you with that moment in time. Often using that affirmation in a race can keep you in a winning state of mind.

I’ve been talking about “wins”. Many of us will never win a race, but as triathletes we have wins every day we train. It’s not just about coming across the line first. Often it’s about doing something a little better than ever before. Maybe going a fraction of a second faster than ever before in a time trial. It might even be completing everything on your program for a whole month.

All of these simple things can add to your core of self belief. These simple things can be used to combat self doubt, if you have enough of them.