Blog

When Fred Sirieix (General Manager for Galvin at Windows) asked me to help him to prepare for the world famous Marathon du Medoc. I thought it would be a great opportunity to demonstrate how changing your mindset can have a direct effect on your performance.

We met in the restaurant on the 28th floor of the Hilton hotel on Park Lane which has stunning views overlooking Hyde Park to the west and Central London to the east. Fred explained to me that on the 12th of September he and Chris Galvin will be taking part in the unique and world famous Marathon du Medoc. The race starts in Pauillac and ends back in Pauillac 23 miles later having gone through top Chateaux and their vineyards such as Ducru-Beaucaillou, Mouton Rothschild, Pichon-Longueville or Chateau Latour. Although some of the participants will be wine tasting, eating oysters and haveing a nice “cote de boeuf”, Fred said that he would be taking the run seriously.

He told me that this will be his first marathon and with only 5 weeks to train his goal is to complete the circuit in under 4 hours, which will be a personal best. Fred explained to me that he is physically capable of running the marathon as he is an experienced runner and trains frequently, however, he had problem. When he is running, at a certain point he finds himself having a stream of negative internal dialogue, he notices the pain and the more he thinks about it the more pain he feels. The negative self talk increases, causing him to slow down. He wanted to be able to shut off the pain and the negative thoughts.

I agreed to work with Fred to help him maintain a peak performance mindset and give him the best chance of achieving his personal best. Fred was excited at the thought of reprogramming his mind and proved to be very responsive to my initial tests. We agreed that the outcome for the first stage would be to enable him to take control of his thoughts and allow him to start focusing on running comfortably. He also needed an anchor to allow him to access a state of peak performance – the state that athletes often call being ‘in the zone’.

In our initial conversation I taught him to focus on his breathing and to access an altered state. We spoke about getting into a rhythm of the run and using this to maintain a balanced state. I introduced some basic self hypnosis techniques for him to practice before our first session in the gym. When we next meet I will be taking him through some techniques that will help him to maintain a peak performance mindset and stay in the zone. I will also set up a powerful anchor around this peak state for him to access whenever he needs a boost.

Fred and Chris are running to raise funds for Galvin’s chance a program to help disadvantaged youngsters get into training and employment within the hospitality industry.

Galvin’s chance JustGiving page http://www.justgiving.com/Fredsirieix-ChrisGalvin-Marathon/

Marathon du Medoc course http://www.marathondumedoc.com/docs/circuit.pdf