Kara Goucher is known to recruit the support of sport psychologist to keep her focused in training & racing. She recently placed 3rd  (time 1:09:03) in the NYC Half-Marathon and describes in her blog why she didn’t win, “I started to worry about blowing up, and let three women go ahead of me. About a mile later I realized I felt fine. I hadn’t let the others go because I had to; I’d let them go because I was afraid. That was my big tactical mistake of the race”  I can appreciate her being honest about her performance and I know this makes her hungrier for her next race; however after reading this it was validating to know that she is still focusing on her mental game and it’s impact on her performance. She is an amazing athlete, mother, woman, and I gain inspiration from her on every level. I value and admire the hard work that athletes of every shape, size, level and background do, that’s what keeps me passionate about my clinical and sport psych work with athletes.

Keep Reaching for Your Peak!!!

Here is a link to Kara Goucher’s full blog entry for NYC Half-Marathon: http://karagoucher.competitor.com/2011/03/24/that-felt-good/

Here is a Runner’s World article March 2010 that describes her mental challenges to being a world class runner getting to the top of her sport:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297–13431-1-1X2X3X4X5X6X7X8X9X10X11-11,00.html

FYI: The field of sport psychology is relatively new in academia and athletics. Some people in the athletic arenas are skeptical on what it can add to their training programs and others are strong advocates and firmly believe that the psychological aspects of sport are just as important as the physical one. Many U.S.A track and field teams, USA Olympic teams, elite runners, professional golfers, professional  baseball, etc. have sport psychologists on their training staff.