You look around and see all these superior athletes surrounding you.  At the pool, you notice ripped swimmers as they saunter across the deck, slip into the water and motor back and forth at speeds such that you can’t imagine how they are doing that.  On the bike, you are tooling along at a crisp pace, and some other cyclist eases by, seemingly without effort, gives you a little nod, and turns into a steadily decreasing shape until becoming a tiny dot disappearing over the horizon.  During your run, same thing: you get passed by a couple of young women who are having an in-depth conversation about their physics exam or some term paper coming up.

But the conversation you are having with yourself is not about what they are talking about.  You are asking yourself one question that, at that moment, seems like the most important thing of all: “Do I even belong here?”  The conversation with yourself continues: “Everybody around here is fast, and they look so fit and they have really nice kits and fancy bikes and the latest swim equipment.  I’m just a normal person.  I don’t fit in.  I don’t belong here.”

And maybe you are right, but it doesn’t matter and here’s why.  You are not here for them.  You are here for you.  Here are three steps for transforming this doubt that you belong, into something useful and powerful and even motivating.

Step 1.  Revisit and write down (yes on paper with a pencil or your favorite pen) your reasons for doing your sport.  Your reasons and drives for training and racing may be about maintaining your fitness and health, or your body shape.  It may be to relieve the tensions of normal life.  It may be to knock off a life goal, check off a bucket list item or just see whether you can actually do this.  Or it may be to win your age group, to grab a personal record or qualify for some championship race.  Whatever the reasons, as many as they are, as big or tiny as they might seem, write them down (all of them) and take a look at them.  This isn’t about all those other people, those swimmers and cyclists and runners.  This is for you, and they don’t really figure into all this.

Step 2.  Pay attention to the actual actions of those around you. When you pay close attention to all these seal-sleek swimmers and speedy cyclists and fluid runners, how do they treat you?  You might be tempted to evaluate what you think they think of you, rather than what they are actually doing.  When you look for it, you may notice that they are actually behaving toward you in a very supportive way.  Notice the little looks of approval, the “nice-work” statements, the little acknowledgements that you are out there training and racing.  That you are one of them, that they acknowledge you.

 
Step 3.  Acknowledge other athletes.  You could wait around hoping someone will give you a thumbs-up, or a knowing nod or a “good job.” Or… you could initiate those things. See another athlete on a run or a ride or at the pool?  Give a little nod of approval.  Encounter another triathlete at the gym (yes, you can tell who they are)?  Tell them, “Nice work.”  Be genuine, be brief.  But instigate the continuing culture or letting everyone know that everyone belongs.

There will be strange responses, no doubt.  Some athletes are shy.  Some are absorbed in their training session and don’t even see you. No problem.  You belong, and so do all the other athletes.  Help create the culture of belonging.  Because you do.  We all do.

Mental Skills Expert Will Murray often hears triathletes saying that the sport is at least 50% mental and 50% physical, but I’ve come to notice that they spend very little (if any) time doing mental training. Fortunately, it’s easy and fast to train-up your mind to help you achieve your triathlon goals. I’ve been lucky enough to bring these mental conditioning techniques to first-time athletes and Olympians, kids and seniors, triathletes who want to finish the race and those who are gunning to win.