As athletes we’re often told to “just believe”, or to “be confident”, to “relax & focus” but few people ever learn the skills required to execute these seemingly simple tasks.

A massive element of running (especially marathon & ultra-distance running) is mental - in fact most people will tell you that up to 90% of it is all in your head. But how much time do we spend training our minds vs training our legs? 

Kirsten van Heerden is a Clinical Psychologist by qualification and leading Sports Psychologist by daily practice, working with some of South Africa’s most talented and upcoming athletes. 

Her career as a professional swimmer and personal battles with mental preparation, nervousness, competitiveness and identity, sparked her curiosity for psychology, or as she puts it, how we learn and teach the skills necessary to control the mind.

In this episode you will learn how to improve your mental fitness. Dr. van Heerden arms you with a “toolbox” of techniques and practises that are easy to introduce into your training and will help you develop the skills required to:

• calm your nerves
• (re)focus your mind
• broaden your perspective on success/failure 
• understand the link between identity, self-worth and achievement

Enjoy!