Before you battle into the winter training; take the time to relax, focus on the positives of the season just gone and be honest with yourself on whether your system of preparation last winter worked out for you.
It's that time of year when riders of all levels can feel a low as the racing months end and pre-season goals are still not achieved, playing havoc with your mood. Cycling coach Jonathan Gibson has some tips for best analysing how your season went and in this latest dispatch he's also included some ideas as to how you might best reboot your mental attitude.
It’s the end of the season and it’s been two weeks since you’ve seen the bike. You head out into the shed or workshop and there it is; shoes abandoned beside it, dust starting to gather and a chain that looks the worst for ware.
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Know that feeling? Well, you’re not alone.
Athletes from domestic to Olympic level all suffer from mental fatigue. This is generally caused by a long hard season of training and competing.
It is usually seen in athletes striving for high levels of perfection. But there are no hard and fast rules around when depression may set in and it’s generally an individual phenomenon.
Athletes who attach self worth to personal goals and then fail to achieve those goals tend to lose self-esteem, and this is one of the main detonators for the blues.
There’s no single solution or hard fast remedy to the problem. But you can do a number of things to mentally reboot and get your ‘mojo’ back.
- Decide on an off season activity you might enjoy. Some people might like to go mountain biking or cyclocross racing; others might like hill walking. You decide.
- Take two to three weeks away from it all; poolside or whatever takes your fancy. Go visit some friends and try their sport. Whether it’s canoeing or archery, give it a go.
- Go back to basics and re-introduce yourself to your own core values. Have a think about next year and set realistic goals.
- Consider if you need a coach or if you need to change coaches. Be honest with yourself. If you do this correctly now you could avoid being in this same situation next year; reaching the end of the season frustrated or with a sense of unfulfilled goals.
Taking a step back and re-evaluating while resting can translate into real progress further down the line, especially after a mentally and physically demanding season.
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Many athletes make the mistake of not properly evaluating their achievements during the season just gone.
There's one mistake a great number of athletes make from year to year; incorrectly evaluating the level of their achievements during that year.
You can focus on the outcome goal. This means you gauge the success of your season based on the crude measurement of what races you won or where you were placed.
But maybe you were going well in some races and had bad luck in the closing stages; a mechanical issue that ruined your chances. Going over it again and again will send your mood into a tailspin.
So it’s best to steer clear of the outcome goal and instead focus on the system goal.
Focus on the power you were putting out until you crashed in that last 5km. Or consider how comfortable you were riding across to the break on your own before you had the mechanical problem.
These may all show improvement and demonstrate that your system is working. If this is not the case then you need to re-evaluate your system as a whole.
Jonathan Gibson is a racing cyclist and runs his own coaching and athlete testing business – Sports & Exercise Engineering. He is a certified strength & conditioning coach and has a diploma in orthopedic massage & injury management. A former Irish squad rider, he was also a schoolboy international swimmer. As well as his current work with cyclists he has also worked with swimmers and gymnasts.
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