This week has been filled with so many memories and moments of excitement! By this time tomorrow the Ironman World Championship will be in full swing and the energy around here will be at its peak. In the final hours and moments before “go time” I want to encourage athletes to quiet your mind and take some moments to be still. Go inward and find your peace, your inner calm. For example, find a quiet spot on the beach and just take a few deep breaths, or close your eyes and just focus on listening to the waves. You could also watch the waves coming and going, ebbing and flowing. Just focus and pay attention to how one wave builds then eventually folds, and then another rises. Tomorrow will be just the same- the ebb and flow of emotions the rising and falling. It’s okay. Accept the process while it is happening. It will happen in the water, or on the bike, or on the run, and probably several times thereafter. It’s okay. It’s the process. Move with each moment while trusting that they will pass. What you feel in that moment may not be what will be in the moments, minutes, or hours to come. It’s okay. Just be with it. No matter how “good” or “bad” you feel it will pass. It’s temporary. Just think, this time next week you will be a 2013 Ironman World Championship Finisher. So no matter what happens today or tomorrow, it’s just temporary and will pass. So find that peace and remind yourself that this is the only moment you need to be in, oops I mean this moment, oops I mean this moment…see how temporary they are, like passing waves in the ocean. When you become more present, you find more peace.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing evening before the big show tomorrow. This will be my last “Kona Mental Skills Tip” of the week and I want to thank each and every one of you that read, liked, and shared my posts this week. It has truly been an honor to work with these amazing athletes and share in Trimarni’s journey here. Send her lots of positive race day vibes:)

Here is a great pre-race video where Pete Jacobs shares how he incorporates mindfulness and being present for his race strategy tomorrow. I included some great quotes from the video:

“Get back in control. Relax your mind. Relax your body again”

“Be in your own head space”

“Calm and controlled and doing your own pace”

“Moment by moment. Really working on just trying to be quiet not even thinking about am I going too hard or too easy. Really just trying to think of nothing and be completely quiet”

“The quieter you can be in your mind the quicker the time goes…When you stop worrying about things time slows down.”