I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Mental Performance Consultant based in Longmont, Colorado. I provide individual psychotherapy and mental skills coaching to athletes at all levels through out the state. I am dually trained, holding masters in both Social Work and Applied Sport Psychology. I help athletes who are anxious or depressed, have a lot of life stress, injured or experienced a recent trauma. Worry about not being ‘good enough.’ Struggle with perfectionistic thinking. Athletes that are looking for an extra edge in their sport, struggling with performance anxiety, or just want a different mental approach to achieving your best.
When I am not working with athletes I am engaging fully in my own path - I am a dad, husband and a mountain athlete. I run on the trails and the roads, I mountain bike, backpack, climb and ski. Throughout the 1990s and well into the 2000's I worked as an outdoor educator - teaching rock-climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, and white-water rafting to students at Outward Bound, a private high school, as well as leading trips at the University of Oregon. I also volunteered for search-and-rescue in Oregon.
I’ve raced on the track and on the trails from 800-meters to a 100 miles, on foot and bike. Raced half-ironman distance triathlons and raced in the famed Leadville 100 run and Mountain Bike, and yes, I find time on the side to coach ultrarunners (completely separate from therapy or consulting).
Credentials and Experience
$125
50 Minute mental performance coaching
$125
60 minute psychotherapy sessions
Last weekend I had the great opportunity to both pace and volunteer at...Read More
Last weekend I had the great opportunity to both pace and volunteer at the Leadville 100. It gave me the opportuity to not just give back to this awesome community but to observe as a mental peroformance consultant and as a coach. To take in what was clearly working for people, and what wasn’t.
Here are five things that I saw that were clearly working from both the leaders of the race as well as back of the packers.
) Patience. The people I saw struggling clearly burned their matches coming up to Hope Pass. They laid on the ground at the aid station, eyes screaming defeat. Have patience from the start. I know people that made it to Mayqueen in 2:30 and easily finished. Claire Gallagher with whom I’ll mention again in this was very patient - gaining ever so quickly on the leaders. Not just patience with the experience but with themselves! They didn’t flog themselves if they slowed down, or had a bad moment, they adjusted and moved through it.
2) Radiate Gratitude. Claire Gallagher was a classic example. Coming from behind up Hope Pass she had an ever present smile, was thankful to those that offered help. Gratitude is a secret (shouldn’t be so secret) weapon. It is known to create optimism. Thank those around you. There were so many that embodied this.
3) Smile. Those smiling radiated joy, another secret tool that builds optimism. It is contagious to those around you and they radiate it back. Marathoner Eliud Kipchoge is a great example of someone who uses his smile to run.
4) Be Present. Stay where your feet are (constantly moving) those focused on the finish created tension, sometimes a mismatch of where they wanted to be and where they were. Notice what’s around you. The people, the environment. Staying grounded allows you the space to focus on the things you can control.
5) Be composed. Emotional regulation is key. To hot and you’ll flame out quickly like those who took off like bats out of hell at the start. When you start getting hooked by fear of not making cut offs, or not getting the result you wanted, take a deep breath, come back to the present.
There were many other not so obvious skills that people were using like positive self talk and imagery. I know for certain that training AND practicing your mental skills will increase the likelihood for success in this race and other ultras. If you’d like to talk about developing a periodized mental skills plan don’t hesitate to contact me!
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Mental Skills for Ultrarunning You spend hundreds of dollars on the r...Read More
Mental Skills for Ultrarunning
You spend hundreds of dollars on the race. Pay a coach. Train hours upon hours, but are you training your mind?
I guarantee barring some catastrophic situation or injury, if you have the fitness you can succeed at the ultradistance.
We focus so much on training our bodies, hour after hour, mile after mile, interval after interval yet everyone will tell you it’s about what your mind is doing during race day.
Set yourself up for success by starting now.
This six-week training is designed to periodize your mental skills, especially if you’re shooting for a spring or summer ultra. The sessions will be an hour long with opportunities for discussion as well as take home assignments. That’s right - you’ll need to put in your mental reps along side your steady state intervals and hill climbs. There will be one make up date to be determined for people who missed one of the sessions. Whether ten people sign up or one this training will happen.
Who is this for?
While designed for ultrarunners any athlete is welcome to join.
What if I sign up and can’t make it?
I am going to have one make up date to be determined before the training ends.
This course meets 7pm-8pm Mountain on the following dates:
April 5th, 2023
April 12th, 2023
April 19th, 2023
May 3rd, 2023
May 10th, 2023
May 17th, 2023
There will be two bonus dates: July 26th and September 27th for midseason and end of season review!
The course will be recorded for missed sessions.
Handouts and homework material will be used as well as a forum for open discussion outside of the training.
This course costs $250. Early registration March 1st-15th for $175 after that it goes back up to $250
Register Here
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I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Mental Performance Consultant based in Longmont, Colorado. I provide individual psychotherapy and mental skills coaching to athletes at all levels through out the state. I am dually trained, holding masters in both Social Work and Applied Sport Psychology. I help athletes who are anxious or depressed, have a lot of life stress, injured or experienced a recent trauma. Worry about not being ‘good enough.’ Struggle with perfectionistic thinking. Athletes that are looking for an extra edge in their sport, struggling with performance anxiety, or just want a different mental approach to achieving your best.
When I am not working with athletes I am engaging fully in my own path - I am a dad, husband and a mountain athlete. I run on the trails and the roads, I mountain bike, backpack, climb and ski. Throughout the 1990s and well into the 2000's I worked as an outdoor educator - teaching rock-climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, and white-water rafting to students at Outward Bound, a private high school, as well as leading trips at the University of Oregon. I also volunteered for search-and-rescue in Oregon.
I’ve raced on the track and on the trails from 800-meters to a 100 miles, on foot and bike. Raced half-ironman distance triathlons and raced in the famed Leadville 100 run and Mountain Bike, and yes, I find time on the side to coach ultrarunners (completely separate from therapy or consulting).
Credentials and Experience
Training Block was created with a mission to support and empower runners, in order to elevate our sport. We do so by giving runners access to a network of local sport performance providers, who provide runners with the care they need from coaching, physical therapy, massage, strength training, and more. We also give providers an easy way to connect with each other and share articles, videos, and other resources that benefit runners and providers alike. For every service booked through Training Block, we donate 10% of our revenues to Training Block’s Elite Athlete Fund, which sponsors elite runners who do not have professional contracts and need financial support for racing at their highest level.
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