This February 28 to March 1, Rachel Neylan will ride from Sydney to Goulbourn in The Variety Cycle. It’s practically a pedal in the park for Rachel, who also participates in 12-day pro tours, but it’s her mental strength that she credits with winning races, with physical strength coming a close second.
When you’ve had to deal with a broken jaw and pelvis and two knocks from cars, not to mention paving your own way in the tough sport of road cycling, you need to cultivate some serious mental resilience. Rachel shares with us the methods in which she trains her mind before and during race day. So if you’re training for something – be it a half marathon, a triathlon or a 100m sprint to the bus – you’ll definitely want to take this advice on board.
The weeks before a race
“There are a lot of training techniques,” says Rachel. “When you’re racing it’s absolutely paramount. There’s mental rehearsal, which would be visualising yourself accelerating or attacking on certain points of the course. If you can get to know the course in reality that’s a big help with the mental imagery later.
“You also need to be psychologically in a calm frame of mind – calm, relaxed, almost in a state of athletic zen. You need a clear mind and absolute focus so that you trust your body 100%, so meditation and mindfulness is one thing I’ve welcomed into my training program. There’s a lot of noise and distractions to zone out, like emails, dealing with sponsors, fans, family, teams.
“You need mental downtime, because you experience emotional highs and lows. I live out of a suitcase – I have no fixed address in Australia.”
The night before a race
“You’re compartmentalising the noise. You generally have a team meeting so you have to process the rules and instructions. You have to consider what your role is and how that fits in with your perceptions of the race.
“So you should have some quiet time – that’s really important. You need a strong and composed state of mind that isn’t rushing around with thoughts of doubt, negativity or uncertainty. You’ll always get nerves, but that’s good. You need to channel them into positivity.”
Minutes before the race
“You’ll be on the start line 10 minutes before, and you’ll notice everybody is still and silent. It’s quite an odd time because you feel the heat and anticipation of every woman around you. A positive mantra is what you need at a time like this.”
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The first leg of the race
“A road race is all about tactics, so you have to be consciously aware of the other riders – there’s a lot of information to process at any one time. It’s not like a triathlon where you just have to manage your own energy. So having mantras to calm your mind down is really key. ‘I am in control.’ ‘Being at one with the race.’ ‘This is my day.’ Positively reinforce mantras to yourself, but don’t retreat into your own head.”
The eternal mid-point of the race
“Road cyclists have quite astute A-type personalities. They generally have a really strong sense of self belief, and a deep sense of determination and inner strength. The pain you have to take yourself to in those races is… well, our longest tour on the pro tour for women is 12 days, so you have to dig pretty deep. The essence is knowing yourself. You need to truly know why you’re dong what you’re doing.”
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Nearing the finish line
“At the pointy end of the race it’s psychological, so pick up the self talk when you’re flagging. Sometimes you’ve got to be bold and take a risk, so I say, ‘I am Rachel and I am strong enough to jump out of the pack now and lead this race and win.’ You’re hurting, but one tactic is: ‘I know how hard I’ve trained, and if I’m hurting, I know they’re going to be hurting more.’ And when your legs are hurting, tell yourself: ‘It’s only pain and I can go above and beyond that. I have infinitely more capacity than I can ever imagine’.”
Follow Rachel on Twitter and visit her website.