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In 2017, researchers completed an impressive study which reviewed nearly ten million marathon finishing times (9,789,093 to be exact) from a total of 6,888 marathons across the globe. The vast majority analyzed (nearly 89 percent) took place after the year 2000, but races ranged between 1970 and 2013

A few weeks ago, the mother of a 13-year-old female runner (let’s call her Lisa) reached out to see if I could help her child with mental skills training. I have written extensively about The Sisu Quiz, first as a way to measure mental toughness and second about how you can implement the results of the quiz. I won’t belabor how the Sisu Quiz works, but I would like to mention that I have used this quiz with much success in adolescents. While I always speak to the parents before I speak with their child, any conversation between the athlete and myself are confidential unless: 1) the athlete specifically states otherwise or, 2) there is a suspected mental health issue which needs a follow-up with a specialist.

Um, but if you’re doing it yourself, I think the best thing would be to reach out to somebody who’s a good, who’s an experienced coach, um, and see if you can be the, you know, see if you can tag along or catch up with them once a month just for a chat about, uh, you know, almost like a mentorship. That’s essentially the moral of the story and it’s just as ridiculous as it is to say that you’re the best dad in the world or the best dad in the country is exactly the same as saying you’re the best business or triathlon business for example, in the country or your state. , it’s probably something that’s familiar to a lot of people now, but it’s so simple, yet it’s so important is finding your why. And so if that’s what’s, you know, so if you think if you sit down with yourself and go, “I want to help people change their lives or help assist them have better lives

However, as those disciplines recede and enduro and other gravity-based mountain bike events take a larger market share, there is a glaring hole in resources available to athletes and coaches. The strength and skill requirements in enduro and gravity-based events are very large components to success, but endurance and strength are nothing without the right skills and confidence. There is an important endurance component required for enduro that is the backbone for repeatability at high speeds for the timed sections, or for just having fun with the crew. Have your athletes repeatedly work on sections of trail to learn different lines and include at least one day of a longer “enduro” practice.