Purpose. Resilience. Performance.
Mindset coaching for ultra runners
Stop fighting your thoughts, start having fun, and unlock your athletic potential
Running disgustingly long distances 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. But you don’t know if you have the resilience to keep fighting against yourself. 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 go faster, 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. 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 define how running brings you joy.
Address the root cause of your self-destructive thought processes, and start to give yourself the compassion you deserve.
Learn techniques to focus on helpful thoughts and feelings, 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.