Elevate Running Camp – Day 2

Reality struck – 0630 and officially 39F degrees. Up and running. And as everyone is learning, start on time end on time. I have a love-hate relationship with making excuses. So much so that I wrote the book on excuses not to run – the theme of this camp is simple – this is a No Excuse Zone. Whine somewhere else… we’re in this together. Off we went for our first mostly easy trail run.

Our morning topic was about getting in shape. How does it happen? How much should you run? How often should you run? What paces should you run? These questions were answered and many more. All the answers are based in the most recent research. There are some surprising answers. Ask your runner!

Then we were out to Observatory Field to do running and strength related drills. After 45 minutes we ended with a round of the Plank. It was obvious at to each runner what they needed to work on to become stronger and more injury resistant. Now, if we can just get them to do these things BEFORE they get injured instead of waiting until AFTER and doing them in rehab.

Food, rest, card games and then our first mental game discussion. Based on our assessments yesterday, I’ve chosen the most popular needs of the group. We started with a big picture general discussion on the concepts of control, influence and non-control/non-influence.

Our first topic is about focus. It’s one of my favorite topics. I personally believe it is the absolute #1 mental game skill an athlete must possess to be the best they can be. By learning how to control your focus and ability to refocus you form the foundation for all other mental game skills. The key of course is not to just “focus”. We are focused. The problem is that most often we are focused on the wrong things. So we spent time defining relevant and non-relevant cues to focus on.

Game time yielded the usual fun and competitive atmosphere in kick ball. Two games were going on at the same time. We swapped teams to keep variety in opponents.

: More Aerobic Games

: Game time

: Dinner Time!!!!

: Elevate Running Camp – No Excuse Zone

: Elevate Running Camp – No Excuse Zone

About Dean Hebert

I’m a mental game coach, author and speaker. I work with individual athletes, parents, coaches, and teams on sports performance enhancement. Beyond my academic post-graduate work in sports psychology - the psychology behind athlete performance – I am a certified Mental Games Coaching Professional (MGCP) and certified hypnotherapist. I’ve authored several books and hundreds of articles. “Coach, I didn’t run because…” (2008) is a seriously light-hearted look at making excuses not to workout and how to overcome them. “Focus for Fitness” (2009) and “Screw the Goals Give me the Donut” (2010) are two of my eBooks on mental game approaches for the everyday athlete. I wrote these because I believe that everyone can benefit from the powerful mental techniques that the world’s best athletes use. I have been cited in Runners World, Best Health magazine (CN), SWEAT Magazine, and the Washington Examiner amongst many other publications. I have been a featured mental games coach in Runner’s World and for the internationally acclaimed trail running resource - trailrunningclub.com. I also regularly appear on sports and fitness talk shows such as LTKFitness, Runnersroundtable and for more than three years I have co-hosted a weekly video series with Coach Joe English for Running-Advice.com. I specialize in mental toughness training. My clients include tennis, synchronized swimming, golf, race-kart, soccer, motocross, volleyball, MMA, cycling (road, off-road, time-trialist), running, duathlon and triathlon, basketball, football and baseball athletes. I have coached world-class athletes and athletes internationally. I have a passion for working with youth athletes and helping them apply mental game skills and techniques to all areas of life. Most importantly, my aim is to have people enjoy sports and life to their fullest through peak performances.

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2 Responses to Elevate Running Camp – Day 2

Junette West says:

23 June 2010 at 6:33 am

Sounds like you are whippping everyone into shape – physically & mentally! Thanks for posting on the blog. I check it daily. Have fun & enjoy NOT being in temps close to 110!

- Dean Hebert says:
  
  23 June 2010 at 11:34 am
  
  Today reality is really setting in. Some sore bodies. Everyone wants naps and food. Each single workout isn’t too long. But, they do build on each other. They had a nice walking tour on campus today to relax and loosen up.