Purpose. Resilience. Performance.
Mindset coaching for ultra runners
Stop fighting your thoughts, start having fun, and unlock your athletic potential
Running any sort of distance is ace. But running a really long way is one of the most beautiful, transformative things you can possibly do with your time on this earth. Maybe it’s the connection with nature; maybe it’s the community; or maybe it’s that certain type of magic that takes place when we endure the hardship long enough to realise that we’re capable of more than we could ever have thought possible.
But if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that the magic has worn off. Every big training session or race seems to spark a kind of existential crisis.
The self-induced pressure to perform.
The constant comparison to others.
The crippling self-doubt.
The nagging voices in your head, giving you every possible reason to just stop doing the thing that used to give you so much joy.
Maybe you win this inner battle sometimes; maybe you don’t. But it’s not sustainable, or fun, to keep fighting against your own mind like this. You probably think you’re weak; that others are just made of tougher stuff than you.
I can promise you that you that this isn’t the case. You have exactly what you need inside you to:
Let go of the struggle,
Rediscover your joy for running,
And, in the process, perform better than ever.
What I do
I’m Matt, and I help passionate ultra endurance athletes of all abilities go faster.
I do this by helping them to:
Build a healthy ‘why’ based on what truly matters to them
Let go of limiting beliefs
Work with, rather than against their mind when things get tough
Stay present and non-judgemental, to solve problems faster
Have fun - regardless of race results
Why this works
You suffer because you care so much. This passion for your sport is your superpower and your Achilles heel. It motivates you to do incredible things, but it provides the fuel for every unhelpful thought you’ve ever had about yourself. It encourages you to confuse your running performances with your identity. And it leaves you with no room to fail, because failure just becomes proof that you’re not ‘good enough’.
Caring less isn’t an option - and even if it was, it certainly isn’t performance-enhancing! So you try being tougher on yourself, using every rep and every race as an opportunity to practice squashing those weak thoughts, until you get that elusive race result that finally brings you a sense of self-worth.
Here’s the thing though: trying to push away negative self-talk is like trying to push a beach ball underwater. The harder you push, the more those thoughts push back. You never ‘conquer’ them, and one successful race - or one hundred - won’t change your internal narrative. This pointless fight against your thoughts and feelings is the basis of our modern, misguided view of mental resilience, and it’s completely counter to how our minds actually work.
The answer?
Use that passion in a positive way, through a series of exercises to uncover how running makes you a better person.
Address the root cause of your self-destructive thought processes, and start to build pride and belief.
Learn techniques to stay in the moment and focus on helpful thoughts, without wasting energy on the ones that aren’t serving you.
This is the basis of my coaching model, which draws on my training in behavioural psychology, my observations from a career on the front line in the British Army, and my own painful experiences of finding peace and meaning in my athletic journey.