As coaches, we can help close the confidence gap for our athletes by reminding them of how far they’ve come in their training and equipping them with the mindset tools to handle whatever comes their way on race day.
Written by Stacey Gross
We coach runners through weeks and months of workouts to physically prepare them for their goal race. But there’s another important piece of training that can be easy to overlook: the mental side.
Throughout a training cycle, runners may question whether they’re doing enough, worry that a missed workout will cost them their goal or wonder if they’re actually capable of doing what they’ve been training for.
As coaches, we can see the work they’ve put in. We know what they’re capable of. But getting an athlete to believe in themself as much as we believe in them can be a completely different challenge.
We call the space between the two the confidence gap.
We’ve all heard the phrases “trust the process” and “trust your training” a million times. But helping an athlete actually believe those words is an important part of preparing them for race day.
Why Mindsent Matters Throughout Training and Ahead of a Goal Race
The taper arrives in your athlete’s schedule, and suddenly they have a lot more time to think. With mileage and workouts cut back, they may start questioning their fitness, comparing their training to other runners or making a mental list of everything that could possibly go wrong on race day.
That’s why confidence isn’t something we want to wait until race week to talk about. It’s something athletes can build, workout after workout and week after week.
Every goal-pace workout, long run and week of showing up to put in the training gives your athlete another chance to see what they’re capable of. Even runs that don’t go as planned can build confidence when athletes learn to adjust, problem-solve and keep moving forward.
Preparing for a goal race isn’t only about completing the physical work. Athletes also need to reach the starting line believing in the training they’ve done and feeling ready to put it into practice.
The tricky part is that, as race day gets closer, athletes may easily forget the moments that built their confidence in the first place.
The Role of a Running Coach in Helping Athletes Close the Confidence Gap
One of our biggest advantages as coaches is perspective. Athletes experience training one workout or one week at a time. As coaches, we get to step back and look at the entire training cycle.
Your athlete may be stuck thinking about a long run that felt terrible or a speed workout where they couldn’t hit their goal paces. You can remind them about the workouts that went really well, the consistency they’ve built or just how much progress they’ve made since week one.
Encouragement matters, but building confidence is about more than saying, “You’ve got this.” Give your athlete specific reasons to believe in themselves and point to the work they’ve already done.
At the same time, building confidence also means being realistic. As you continue to check in with your athlete throughout their training, recognize when a goal that was set during week one no longer makes sense.
Adjusting goals and expectations doesn’t mean an athlete failed. Sometimes, changing the goal is exactly what helps them arrive at the starting line feeling prepared, not already defeated.
4 Ways to Help Your Athletes Improve Confidence and Mindset
Here are some tools you can use with your athletes to build confidence and mindset, not only on race day but throughout the entire training cycle.
1. Practice positive talk.
This is something you can start working on from day one. When your athlete’s thoughts start heading toward “I can’t do this,” help them find a positive phrase they can turn to. It doesn’t need to be anything complicated. It just needs to mean something to them.
Their positive phrase may even change from one training cycle to the next. What’s important is that they’ve practiced it during training so it feels familiar when they need it on race day.
2. Reframe the tough days.
A few bad runs won’t ruin an entire training cycle. When you’re training for months, some days won’t go according to plan. Instead of allowing your athlete to label it a failure, help them identify what they can learn from it.
Maybe they didn’t fuel enough, started too fast or simply had an off day. Whatever happened, talk about what they can take away from that run and improve on going forward. A tough workout can still be a productive part of training.
3. Keep training notes and celebrate small wins.
Encourage your athletes to keep notes throughout training that include the good, the bad and all those little wins in between. As race day gets closer, you can look back through those notes together and remind them of how much progress they’ve made.
Those wins don’t always have to be about hitting a certain pace. Maybe they got out the door on a day when they really didn’t want to run. Maybe they finally nailed their fueling from start to finish. Or maybe they listened to their body and made the smart choice to modify a workout. Those moments count, too.
4. Know what works for your athlete.
Just like training, building confidence won’t look the same for every athlete. Some runners need a reminder of how far they’ve come, while others feel more confident after talking through their race plan or focusing on the things they can control.
Knowing what motivates each athlete is an important part of coaching.
Throughout the training cycle, pay attention to how your athlete responds after a great workout, what they say when a run doesn’t go well and what helps them move forward when they’re struggling. By race week, you’ll have a much better idea of what your athlete needs from you.
Final Thoughts
As coaches, we don’t have a crystal ball that can tell us exactly how race day will unfold. What we can do is help our athletes arrive at the starting line feeling prepared and equipped with tools to handle whatever comes their way.
Closing the confidence gap isn’t about convincing an athlete that race day will feel easy after months of training. It’s about helping them believe they can handle the hard parts when they happen.
References
Lochbaum, M., Sherburn, M., Sisneros, C., Cooper, S., Lane, A. M., & Terry, P. C. (2022). Revisiting the self-confidence and sport performance relationship: A systematic review with meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), 6381. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116381
Trine University. (2023). The relationship between self-confidence and performance. https://www.trine.edu/academics/centers/center-for-sports-studies/blog/2023/the_relationship_between_self-confidence_and_performance.aspx
About the Author
Stacey Gross is a UESCA-certified running coach and endurance athlete with experience racing everything from the mile to the marathon, as well as duathlons and triathlons. Her coaching goes beyond the physical side of training, with a strong focus on building confidence and mental strength along the way. She believes some of the biggest breakthroughs happen when runners learn to trust themselves, work through the challenging days and believe in what they’re capable of.
Instagram: www.instagram.com/s__gross
