Anyone can be an Olympian; but that doesn't mean it's easy

This week has been a big week in the lives of track and field athletes across the world. This is the week in which most national governing bodies are announcing and nominating their teams for one of the central sports on the Olympic programme. It is, in short, the week in which dreams are made and hearts are broken.

This morning I gave a small talk to some of the athletes attending the week's Wexford Athletics Summer Camp. Twenty-three years in the sport has thought me that if just one of those young athletes makes the Olympic, they'll have beaten the odds. In fact, if even two or three of them compete in athletics as an adult, that'll be a small miracle. Over the years I've seen hundreds of young athletes, many far more talented than me, give up on the sport because they can't handle been beaten, because they want to concentrate on their studies, because they want to get a job or spend more time socialising, because they get injured, because they go through a bad patch, because they think that success doesn't happen to people like them and because they think that if they are not good enough for the Olympics then the sport has nothing to offer them. Some simply fall out of love with the sport, move on, or do other things with their lives. And that is perfectly fine. There are things that I did as a child that I no longer do, there are things that I realised that I wasn't very good at, and there are things that no longer interest me. 

But, the Irish team named on Tuesday disproves all the myths about where successful athletes come from or what they do with their lives. It proves that you don't have to give up on your academic goals to follow your sporting ones - Paul Pollock and Sara Treacy are both doctors; Mark English is working towards that goal; Ciara Evarard has studied physiotherapy; Michelle Finn will go straight into a block of teaching practice when she gets back from Rio. It proves that you can absolutely work full time and still be a top athlete - Kevin Seaward is a fulltime PE teacher, Breege Connolly works full time in software testing, and Lizzie Lee, a fulltime employee at Apple, recently said that she wouldn't have it any other way (yes, that's half our marathon runners with proper jobs!). It proves that it's not always the best juvenile athletes that make it big time - many of the team will not have been standout juveniles - only a few years ago Michelle was deemed not good enough to be sent to a European Cross Country Championships, now she's going to the Olympics. Indeed, Breege and Lizzie didn't even start to run until their late twenties. It shows that injuries can be overcome - before winning European bronze on Sunday, Ciara McGeehan, one of the true former junior standouts to make the team, had not worn an Irish vest for five years because of injury. 

But most of all, it proves that ordinary people, like you and me, can make it to the Olympics. 

And those of us that don't, can have a darn good time trying, and achieving our own 'Olympic' goals.

The closest I'm likely to get to an Olympics

30 ways to reinvigorate your life: Our 2016 challenge to you

This challenge is an adaptation of a task I recently saw somewhere on Twitter. There are 30 suggestions of different things you can do to make the world a more interesting place - some of which will benefit others; all of which will add new meaning and purpose to your life.

Making others feel good; doing something different; gaining knowledge - these are all ways of giving our life a little boost. All the little boosts added together can mean the difference between living a meaningful, happy life, and just getting by.

Hell, even cleaning the fridge can have major therapeutic benefits.

Try to achieve one of these tasks each week until the whole grid is complete.

Why not print off the sheet, cut out each square, place them in a hat, and pull one out each week?

Go on, give yourself those regular little boosts; you deserve it!

Pdf version of task sheet can be found here

Process Goals

Earlier this year, when delivering a workshop on goal setting, I used my athletics goal for the year to demonstrate the characteristics of a SMART goal. My goal was to go to the European Masters Athletics Championships at the end of August, compete in the 2,000m steeplechase, and win a medal. The goal excited me, it was measurable and timed, challenging yet achievable, and I was, at that time, committed to it.  I knew what I needed to do to achieve my goal, and was committed to regaining some of the speed that I'd lost in recent years.  I didn't need to be in the shape of my life, but I needed to be running better that I had been in recent years. And that was real key to my goal.

Process goals are all about the things over which we have complete control.  They deal with the technique or strategy which is necessary to perform well.  They are usually used to establish that route to achieving outcome goals.  They help to focus attention, and because they have nothing to do with uncontrollable factors they can help to control anxiety.  Examples of process goals in a race setting might include: running at 6-minute mile pace; mastering water-jump technique; carrying out a predefined warm-up routine.  Over the course of a season, a process goal might be to get into shape to run a 7-minute 2000m steeplechase.

As the summer progressed, I slowly got quicker.  Because of the slightly unusual international competition schedule this year, my track season started earlier that usual, but knowing that my main target race wasn't until the end of August, I patiently worked my way into shape, staying focused on getting faster and racing better.

Then, before I knew it, it was time to enter the European Masters Championships that I had so being looking forward to.  But there was a problem.  I was broke.  I was due a couple of payments that would have covered the entry fee, but would have left me without any money to live on for the next few weeks.  And then I would have to come up with money for the flights to Turkey, and for the accommodation.  I lay awake for hours the night before the entry closing date.  I had to come up with a solution.  I had looked forward to this event for so long.  And yes, I would come up with the money somehow.  But it all came down to a matter of priorities.  Did I want to spend all my money on one week in Turkey, to (possibly) win a medal in an age-group European Championships, when there would be European or World masters championships for me every year until the end of my running life.  Could my goals wait?

Sometimes, our goals can conflict with each other.  It then comes down to a matter of priorities. What do we really want to achieve, and why? What is most important to us, both in the short- and long-term?

As I lay there thinking, I realised that the outcome was not the important part to my goal.  That one goal that I'd set at the start of the year had other purposes.  The processes that I needed to go through to achieve it (i.e. getting faster) stopped me fearing the 1500m and 3000m, and I was getting stuck into races like I used to do when I was young. Rather than fret about getting old, I embraced turning 35 and gaining 'master status'. I realised that a medal would mean very little to me if I still wasn't running as fast as I felt that I could.  I still wanted to compete with the seniors.  True, I was disappointed, but I wasn't going to let that disappointment ruin my year.  I was going to make the best of the rest of the season.

On Sunday 10th August, I won the Irish Masters 3000m Championships.  My winning time, 10:15, was the fastest that I'd ran for the distance in 13 years.  Though my outcome goals weren't going to be achieved, my process goals were.  And that's why they are so important.  Process goals can help us achieve outcomes that we don't even realise are possible.

Other aspects of goal setting were discussed in our previous blog posts: Goal Setting: The Key to Lifestyle Management? and Goal Setting - Part II.  When you sit down to set your goals for 2015, don't just set outcome goals.  Add some process goals too. Perhaps they will help you achieve things that you don't even think are possible now.

The Break is Over

As I sit here aching from two days of training after nearly a month layoff, I decided I should take a rest day.  In the past few years I have only taken a couple of weeks fully off, with a couple of easy weeks, but this year, due to other events, it made sense to have a complete rest for four weeks. And I am noticing the difference as I try to get fit again.

As hoped, this has given me a new motivation to train and compete, and hopefully my body, like my mind, will soon be ready to do so.  As so many athletes are also preparing to step back into winter training, I thought I would give a few hints and tips to help ease back into it.

Before I start, lets remember that it is important to take a break from training and competition. It allows both your body and mind to recover, and allows athletes to re-focus. However, when you stop exercising completely you loose aerobic fitness, lungs loose elasticity, blood vessels shrink and blood volume decreases. You use oxygen less efficiently and your heart pumps less blood per beat, not only that but you will also have lost muscles strength. Therefore, when you go back to exercise, just like a car that has been parked in a garage for several years, your body needs to be warmed up before it is taken out for hard exercise. If an athlete was to return to the same types of workouts as they were doing before the break, then the athlete risks straining inspiratory and expiratory muscles but also joints and muscles can become more stressed and increase the risk of injury.

Below are some simple tips which will help reduce the problems faced when athletes return back to exercise:

• Have a plan - it’s easier to commit, especially when motivation drops, when you have a plan, and a plan can stop you from doing too much too quickly
• Set attainable goals - and ease back into training, build slowly and allow momentum to grow.
• Weight training (even if it’s just body weight) - this allows you to build strength and prevent injury. Functional exercises are great to start with. 
• Get training partners - help to maintain motivation especially when the cold nights are coming in.
• Stretch - improve recovery, help flexibility and prevent injury.
• Try something new - Those athletes who are used to running and cycling on the roads could be encouraged to try cross country running or mountain biking to help gain fitness in a different environment, one which will  help challenge the core muscles too.
• Keep warm - whilst out training and when you finish training remember you will cool down fast too.  Remember to take layers to keep warm once training is finished.
• Stay Hydrated - Even during the winter and in the colder months you need to stay hydrated and remember to drink even when you may not feel thirsty. 
• Plymometrics - Be aware of explosive movements. When cold these movements pose a greater risk of injury.  Always remember to warm up properly.

Lifestyle, personal development and welfare support

There's more to high performance sport than training for an event, turning up, and competing.  Athletes, particularly in the professional era, have a lot to think about.  Eating healthily on a tight budget, keeping their finances in order, balancing a social life with an intense training programme, dealing with the media, keeping sponsors happy, handling the expectations of others, coping with long periods of time on the road, building functional relationships with coaches and teammates, keeping anti-doping whereabouts information up-t-date, and dealing with injury and other setbacks, are just some of the additional challenges faced by athletes.  Add to that the everyday demands of human life, work and educational commitments, personal relationships and financial concerns, and the busy life of the athlete, becomes the hectic life of the person.

With all these concerns and issues to balance, it's easy to see why an athlete might benefit from having a member of support staff to keep them on top of their 'life'.  But there is also something else that needs to be considered, and that's where the welfare, career or lifestyle support person really comes into their own.  A sporting career is like few other careers.  A lucky athletes will compete at their peak to somewhere in their early to mid thirties.  Many will finish much earlier, be it due to injury, burnout, lack of funding, or simply reaching their sporting goals.  Usually when individuals retire, they're done with work.  They've earned enough money to see them through their final years, and though a life without work can be difficult for anyone, of any age, to adjust to, the more relaxed pace of life is usually welcomed.  Retiring from a career in your early thirties is a whole different conundrum.  Goals may not have been achieved, few athletes have earned enough money to last the rest of their lives, and having lived on adrenaline and endorphines for many years previously, a massive void normally dominates the outlook of a retired sportsperson.  Retirement in the athlete has been likened to bereavement, and a particularly traumatic one in those who have not prepared for the retirement, or have not been able, for whatever reason, to retire on their terms.

The lifestyle adviser or welfare support person can help the athlete prepare for retirement in a number of ways.  Crucial to the transition is the development of other skills, and preparation for another job or career after sport.  A considerable volume of research supports the pursuit of dual careers from the early days, and though the value of dual careers is widely accepted, the reality is often very different.  Centralised training, increased professionalism, and increased social pressures on athletes makes the pursuit of education, training and employment very difficult for high performance athletes.  Furthermore, the increased money involved in sport often means that athletes don't need to work during the good years, meaning that they have less experience, and less earning potential after sport.  As professional increases, the role of lifestyle and welfare personnel becomes more important.  They are, to some extent, constantly fighting against the system.

Helping with transitions, dual careers and retirement is just part of what the lifestyle, career or welfare support person will help an athlete with.  Councelling and communication skills are important, and by helping an athlete work through their small issues, they are helping build the skills to manage and deal with issues and challenges in the future.  Development of goal setting, time management, conflict resolution and decision making skills will stand to an athlete in future sporting and non-sporting contexts, and though largely relevant to life outside of sport, some of these skills will actually help the athlete in their sporting performance.

This piece from the EIS website outlines how Performance Lifestyles helped Olympic champion rower Katherine Granger achieve sporting success. One of the greatest challenges of this whole area of support, however, is that not all strategies will help to improve performance.  Conflicting roles often exist, particularly if the lifestyle advisor or welfare officer is employed directly by the governing body or funding agency.  How do you support an potential Olympic medallist with depression would be best to spend time away from the support, when the sport as a whole, and ultimately your position, is dependent on medals won at the Olympics.  Obviously, the athlete's welfare is always top of your agenda, but measurement of your performance can be far from clear-cut.

While nutritionists are universally called nutritionists, and sports psychologists are known as sports psychologists across the board, different terms are often used to describe the people who provide the crucial lifestyle support to athletes.  UK Sport, and relevant home country sports institutes (EIS, SINI, SIS and SportWales), refer to the area as Performance Lifestyles, delivered by Performance Lifestyle advisors.  The Irish Institute of Sport run a Performance Transition Support Programme that is "designed to help [athletes] recover, refocus and re-energise" after an Olympic Games, and prepare for the next phase of their life. They refer to the area as Athlete Lifestyle.  TASS refer to the area as Education and Lifestyle Support; The Australian Institute of Sport deliver support through their Personal Excellence (PE) and Athlete Career and Education (ACE) programmes and High Performance Sport New Zealand runs an Athlete Life Programme delivered by Athlete Life Advisors. The England Cricket Board and the Professional Cricket Association run a comprehensive programme delivered by their Personal Development and Welfare Team, while the support professional rugby players receive through the RPA is delivered by Player Development Managers. Support personnel on some university scholarship programmes are simply called mentors.  The skills required by these professionals, the CPD opportunities available, and routes into this type of work will be covered in a future post.

Most professional athletes have access to lifestyle support through their national governing body or professional players association.  Athletes who are not yet at that level, and who would benefit from support, can contact us at Athlete Life Development to discuss and arrange one-to-one or small group support sessions.

The Ageing Athlete

Today is a very big day for me.  This time 35 years ago, I was born.  Happy birthday me!

Turning 35 as an athlete is a big deal.  It means that I can compete as a masters V35 athlete - a category especially for athletes aged between 35 and 40!  While I plan to continue competing as a senior athlete, becoming a V35 has given me an additional boost, and some additional stretching, but exciting goals to aim for.

New Goals

When I was delivering a goal setting workshop earlier in the year, I used my target for this summer as an example of a SMARTER goal.  The goal is to win a medal in the 2,000m steeplechase at the European Masters Championships later this summer.  That's a pretty Specific goal!  It's also Measurable - at the end of the day, I'll either have a medal around my neck, or not.  Now for the Ambitious bit - well I've looked at some previous results and I will have to be at my best too achieve a medal, but my best times would put me in the mix - making the goal Realistic.  The goal is Time-bound - the day is Tuesday 26th August - and it is definitely Exciting - a trip to Turkey, a European medal, and a  shot at a V35 Irish record, all genuinely excite me.  And the goal is Relevant.  It's what I do!

Motivation

All these exciting new goals are giving me new motivation.  In an earlier blog we spoke about the relevance of goal setting in other aspects of lifestyle management, but the main thing that goal setting does is provide motivation.  After having similar goals for the past 10 years or so, I'm glad that I now have something concrete to aim for, and that's really helping with motivation.  As we get older, it's important to set goals that keep us motivated.  By the time we reach 35, we have a clear idea of what we can and can't achieve, and what motivates us - be that intrinsic or extrinsic factors.  There are of course unachieved goals and dreams, and now is a good time to reevaluate what's important and what will keep me motivated moving forward.

Adapting Training

Over the years, I've learned what works for me and what doesn't.  Keeping injury free is important, and experience has thought me that taking a day or two off now, can prevent missing a few weeks later now the line.  I am getting good at distinguishing between a bit of muscle damage soreness that will go away after a day or two, and a niggle that needs attention and rest.  There are more niggles than before, but a lot fewer actual injuries.

I also train a bit differently.  Running is mostly a hobby, and I have stopped being obsessed with times. Some days I leave the watch at home altogether.  That's not to say that I don't run hard.  Sometimes I run very, very hard, but I have realised that there is no point in getting hung up on what times I used to run, and thinking too much about what is and isn't possible.

Role Models

For some athletes, age doesn't seem to be a factor.  I was lucky enough to witness 3-time Olympian Jo Pavey run a European and Commonwealth Games qualifier for 10,000 m.  Pavey is 40, and was just returning from having her second child.  The following week she ran a world V40 record for 5,000 m, in the sort of time that athletes 10 years her junior can only dream of.  While I'm never going to achieve the sort of times that Pavey is running, I can hope to get close to my personal best times.

And if I fancy changing sport, there are many examples of shooters and equestrian athletes who participated at the Olympics well into their 70s.  Indeed, Oscar Swahn (shooting) won an Olympic gold medal when he was 64!

Goal Setting - Part II

Last week I blogged about the importance of goal setting in the context of both performance and lifestyle management.  This week I wanted to go into a bit more detail about effective how to set effective goals, and outline some of the different type of goals which can motivate us in different ways.

The acrimony SMART (or SMARTER) is often used in the field of sports psychology to determine what makes up an effective goal, though discrepancies exist in what each of the letters stand for.  Here are just two of the many descriptions that I have come across:

Specific – Target a specific area for improvement.  Non-specific goals can be irrelevant or difficult to define

Measurable – Will you know when you have achieved your goal?

Aspiration or Ambitious – Is the goal stretching?  Easy goals don’t inspire or motivate us.

Realistic – Is the goal achievable?

Time-related – When do you want to achieve the results by?

Evaluated – Check that you are progressing towards your goal and adjust

Re-evaluated – Keep checking that you are progressing towards your goal

Specific – make them as precise and detailed as possible

Measurable – a method by which you can quantify or rate your current position and then determine the amount of improvement required

Accepted – goals need to be shared and negotiated with all others involved

Realistic – the goal is realistic yet challenging

Time phased – date is set for when the goal is to be achieved by

Exciting – goal motivated the individual

Recorded – the goal and progress towards it are recorded

Together these two definitions cover all but one aspect of what makes up a good goal.  I’ll come back to the other in a moment, but I just wanted to highlight the importance of a goal being exciting.  Some of us are excited by challenging goals; some of us are excited by working towards shared goals as part of a team; some of us (particularly those who are extrinsically motivated), are excited by the final outcome and the fame, fortune or reward that achieving the goal will achieve.  Find what excites you, and set your goals accordingly.  Think about how achieving your goals will make you feel.

The final thing that a goal should be is ‘positively phrased.’ This is where goal setting and mental imagery cross over.  The value of positively phrased goals is probably best demonstrated in the following example:

Negatively phrased goal: To not let people pass me in the home straight of an 800m

Positively phrased goal: To stay ahead in the home straight of an 800m

These two goals set about to achieve the very same result, but the athlete with the first goal will imagine himself being passed when he reads his goal, while the second athlete is likely to imagine himself feeling strong and staying ahead of the pack when he rereads his goal.  Very subtle wording adjustments can really help our goals to be more effective.

Types of goals

Not all goals are the same.  In fact there are three main categories of goal; all of which are important.  They are:

Outcome goals – these are goals where the outcome depends on winning or achieving a particular result.  Outcome goals are highly motivational, particularly in the long-term, but sometimes the result is completely beyond the control of the individual.  An athlete might aim to make the Olympic Games.  They might achieve the qualifying time, but still not be selected to compete.  Similarly a team might aim to win a national title.  They might play the game of their lives in the final, but just come up against a better team on the day, or be defeated as a result of incorrect referring decisions.

Performance goals  - these can be very similar to outcome goals, but give a little bit more control back to the athlete.  With performance goals and athlete sets a specific standard which they want to achieve.  For a track athlete that might be to run 4 minutes for the mile; or for a gymnast it might be to achieve a specific score for their floor routine.  Achieving performance goals is usually unaffected by the performance of others, and are highly effective in monitoring progress towards long-term outcome goas.  Athletes can achieve their performance goals without winning.  Extensically-motivated athletes may be more excited by outcome goals, while intrinsically-motivated athletes can be sufficiently motivated by performance goals.

Process goals – these relate to perfecting a strategy or technique necessary to perform well.  The athlete has complete control over process goals, and process goals can help to reduce anxiety and precompetition nerves.  Examples of a process goal for a long jumper might be to maintain controlled rhythm during the run up.  A golfer might focus on their putting technique and tennis player might focus on their forehand technique.  A series of process goals can be set working towards a medium or long term performance of outcome goal.

Activities:

1. Write down your goal (s) for the coming year.  Try to set an outcome, a process and a performance goal.
2. Are your goals intrinsically or extrinsically motivated?  Are they exciting to you?
3. Check that each goal is positively phrased.  Can you imagine yourself achieving your goals?
4. Double-check that each of your goals meets the criteria for a SMARTER goal, and adjust accordingly.

Goal setting: the key to lifestyle management?

Earlier this week I delivered a workshop to a group of talented young athletes.  We covered topics such as goal setting, time management and decision making, in that order, which was planned, but was only as we were discussing each topic, that it really dawned on me, just how important goals are to every aspect, not only of sport, but of life outside and beyond sport.  Knowing what you achieve is paramount in managing time, and it's a lot easier to make decisions, when we know what we want to achieve in the short, medium and long term.

Not all goals are made consciously.  High performing athletes will set goals for each session that they do, without realising that they have even done so.  Some days it will just be to get the session done; other days it'll be to perform a personal best on repetition.  After years of training and competing, goals in the performance setting will just come naturally.  Goals are not so easy in an unfamiliar environment, like when we are injured, or when we're planning for life after sport.  Considerable thought is often required in these situations.


Coping with Injury
Setting goals can be a great way to overcome injury.  You don't have to think about what you want to achieve after the injury - this often results in over-compliance to rehab programmes, and rushing back to training before you're ready - but think about the process goals that will help you get the most out of your time off.  Depending on the individual, the sport, and the injury, these are some goals that you might set for yourself while injured:

1. To undertake all exercises prescribed by they physiotherapist each and every day of rehab - no more and no less
2. To take up a new hobby, which I will practice daily (when I would normally be training), to take the focus away from the injury and not being able to compete
3. To carry out a period of mental imagery each day in which I will focus on perfect technique
4. To have a massage once every two weeks
5. To use the downtime to catch up on dental appointments and other things that normally detract from training
6. To maintain a structured routine

Not all goals need to be performance goals, and outcome and process goals are especially important during times of injury, illness, transition, or poor form.


Managing your time
Over the years of working with high performance athletes, I have noticed that those who manage to fit the most into their lives, are the ones who know what they want to achieve in both sport and outside of sport.  I've come across medical students who have managed to compete at an international level, and triathletes who can fit training for three sports around being a full-time student.  There are enough hours in the week - we just need to be motivated enough to use them wisely.

When planning for the week, it's a good idea to write down a few goals for the week; plan our time; and then reflect on whether or not our allocation of time is reflective of what we want to achieve in that week.  There is no special wand which will suddenly make us 'time-managed' but know what we want to achieve will make us more efficient with out time.


Making decisions
We all have important decisions to make from time to time - what subjects do we choose for A-levels/Leaving Cert? Which university do we attend? What will we do after university? Is it a good idea to become full-time athletes? Do we want children? Is it time to retire?  For some of us, these decisions will be made, or the options at least narrowed down naturally, but for many, we have to actively make the effort to wade through the options and decide what we are going to do next.  This takes energy and effort which we would probably prefer to conserve for training, but not making a decision, and leaving it to sit on the back of our minds, can use a lot more energy.  Decisions are important!

Knowing what are goals are can greatly help when making decisions.  If your sport is the most important thing in your world, then make sure that you choose a university where you have the facilities, coaching and environment to maintain your training.  There are rarely any right or wrong choices, but if your goals can't be achieved by the decisions that you have made, you are unlikely to lead a satisfied life.   Making decisions based on your goals also prevents you making them for the wrong reasons, or making them to keep others happy.


In summary, goals don't just help us to preform better - they help us decide what is important to us, to decide what we want to achieve in life, how to transition from one phase of life to the next, to deal with injury, to manage our time, and to make decisions.  They are the key to managing our lifestyle, whether that be as a student-athlete, retiring sportstar, or active mother.  Goal setting is the key to lifestyle management.