Category Archives: Sport

Look into their eyes

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Ran past a guy this morning who wanted to race. It only lasted a couple of hundred metres, but that was plenty. It got my heart racing. He wouldn’t let me pass without coming back at me, and credit to him for that. I’d be the same.

The pedal was pushed to the floor but I searched for another gear. After a few seconds of worry – that’s gonna hurt, have you got it in you? – I hit the red button as he tried to overtake again. It was all or nothing with about 600 metres left to the finish.

I looked around after 10-15 seconds to see if he was hanging on. All I could see were his eyes fixated on the ground. His posture was broken. His cadence wasn’t as steady or rapid as it had been. I knew he was done.

The power of taking on difficult challenges

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I ran 31km yesterday as training for the Sydney marathon (49 days to go). It was a miserable day; cold, wet, and windy – very un-Sydney-like.

I had three and a half hours to think about why we should all push ourselves to do difficult things.

When we take on tough tasks, we grow stronger in our minds. The muscle grows the more we challenge it.

Doing hard things also makes us feel more sure of ourselves. We prove that we can overcome obstacles, making us more confident in other areas of life.

Mental toughness increases. These long runs are small victories on the path to the big day in front of large crowds on the streets of the city. I know I can do it on the day if I’ve put the work in week to week – it all compounds.

Want to set your own challenges? Start small and work your way up. Set clear goals and keep track of your progress. Remember, the hardest things often bring the best rewards in the end.

The third goal

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Cruyff speaks, we listen.

The third goal yesterday was a stand out moment for our football team.

I’ve been banging on about putting passes together, keeping the ball. The clock was ticking. It looked like we would miss out on the points again. The final substitutions had been made.

We got the break from a 50/50 challenge in the middle of the pitch and the ball suddenly started moving from back to front, one player to another to another, then finally at our striker’s feet.

She swings a big right foot at it and the net bulges. It was never missing.

I was pleased and proud of what just happened because the simplicity of the move made it so effective.

There was nothing fancy. The ball just went from player to player in maybe five passes max, and the finish was excellent, but it all came from passes.

The whole game is about making passes – executing on the most basic of skills. The team that does it the most wins most of the time.

The work will carry on. The weeks we play badly will be when we don’t execute on our plans and the frustration mounts as mistakes take over.

But when that plan comes together and the ball hits the back of the net at the end of a move as sweet as the one we delivered yesterday, there will be no frustration. We’ll be winning.

The study of top class coaches

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Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho, Sir Clive Woodward, Carlo Ancelotti, Sir Steve Hansen, Dave Alfred, Phil Jackson. These are the best of the best.

And the list goes on with Pep Guardiola, Xabi Alonso, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Who’s your favourite?

The examples of top coaches across the world in all sports are living, breathing textbooks.

Their life histories show similar traits. Many were ex-players. Some were winners but some didn’t get far at all.

Their former players show them respect and admiration for the things they achieved together in almost all cases.

Taking time to study their history gives us blueprints we can use for our own lives.

They always had a plan.

They had goals for their teams. They wanted the titles, trophies, domination.

They deliberated on every detail, leaving nothing to chance.

They rarely took chances, but sometimes situations in games forced their hand.

And when they did, their players responded. The players knew their job within the system they were playing in and they succeeded.

These sources of learning are invaluable.

Sports isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but the lessons are plentiful and applicable to most aspects of everyday life.

Picking up a biography of a top coach or watching interviews with them on YouTube gives huge insights we can all learn from.

Get out of your own way

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The hard work is ahead. I’m running a final marathon this year before my knees break down.

I got through the hurdle of a half marathon last week. Training now steps up to distances much further, staying on my feet for longer.

It’s always harder in my head than it is to do the actual running.

The running is the fun part. The pain comes and I grind through it. One foot in front of the other, over and over.

Thinking about it – letting my brain get in the way – makes the task more difficult.

When we run, pushing towards our physical limits, we get a look at how we react to pain and stress. We hear our brain telling us to slow down, take shortcuts, or simply stop.

The challenge is laid down – easy or hard path? Which one do you want? Growth or stagnation? Settle for what you have, for who you are right now, or grow into someone else? Someone you don’t know yet. Someone you’ve never met.

The action gives us the answers.

The act of not doing what my brain says, and doing what my plan says – following my process – is where the growth comes from.

The act of ‘less thought, more action’ doesn’t apply universally, but the more I take action without the ‘what if…?’ thoughts that let the brain get the upper hand, the better the results.

Losing stinks

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Any kind of loss stinks.

No-one goes into any situation expecting a loss so when it arrives it’s a smack in the mouth.

I like to wallow in it for a while. Spend some time thinking about why it happened, but not too much. Then move on. The past is gone.

Mistakes made? Correct them.

Errors of judgment or a bad choice of words? Learn from it.

Resolve not to do it again. Then move on.

The sun will come up tomorrow. It hasn’t failed once.

Grab onto that fact if nothing else works.

Then go hunt for wins instead. Much less stinky.

Aches and pains

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sports-injury

I’m going through a patch where my body keeps breaking down on me and it is infuriating but part of the process of getting older. I run when I can and like to train for short races but my lower limbs are feeling the strain and it’s not as much fun to run, even in training, with constant pain.

If you’re a runner, you will understand that training with pain of some kind is inevitable as there is normally some small niggle or ache that develops or comes and goes as you continue through your session. But there are those that just won’t go away, and I have one of these at the moment.

Treatment of the issues at the heart of the problem is the only way to solve these kinds of issues. Strengthening of the muscles in and around the area of injury is also crucial and so it’s usually a longer journey to recovery and avoidance of any relapse than just a quick rub-down from a physio.

I’m just glad to have some active friends and relatives in Sydney who can hook me up with the right treatment and so I will be there as soon as I can to get back on the path to good health and some more racing. It’s the first day of spring today so I need to make the most of this southern hemisphere weather!

Turning training from hard labour into progress and positivity

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I’m into my bike training for the two rides i have coming up – 50 miles in Wales, April 23rd and 80 miles in Cambridgeshire, June 5th – and it is nothing short of hard labour at the moment.

granny on bike

I’m not a natural on the bike. Too tall, very long in the body and an ideal wind break. I also lack the big hamstring and glute muscles required to grind it out up the hills and push the pace on the flats. I’m also not very good at handling cold weather and facing up to the elements of this time of year where we live.

But I’m doing what I can to get the work done. I’m doing some short distances as often as the schedule will allow and building up to the first event in April. I’m learning more about how to get down low on the handlebars and slice more easily through the wind (of which there is LOADS) and I’ve done a lot of work in the gym on improving my leg strength – there is still a long way to go but it’s getting better slowly.

I enjoy being on the bike and the sense of freedom that it gives but I have come to the conclusion that it’s not a sport I’m ever going to love. I’m happy enough to train for the events coming up this year but long distance rides will be extremely limited in the future.

Having the bike for short sprint triathlons and some leisure riding will be enough for me and I would always rather be running – a lot less kit required, no fear of mechanicals or punctures and, for me, a whole lot more enjoyment. My knees will pack up at some point soon but I will keep them strong through the gym work and then deal with the pain as it comes on over time.

What’s your next challenge?

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hill-climbing-technique-1-630x420 (1)

The daily grind can really get you down. Commuting followed by the same old faces in the office and the same old problems in your job leads us into the ‘living for the weekend’ mentality. Add some bigger personal goals to your life – challenges to your everyday existence of any kind, physical or mental – and use them to drive your life forwards and basically do more, live more.

My challenges are quite often related to sport. I have a challenge in April next year to ride 50 miles on my bike on a very hilly course in a race in West Wales. Now, I’m not a full-on rider so it’s going to take a lot of work to get fit enough for this. And I’m also not all that strong in the legs so hills just stop me stone dead, so the work is going to have to be really hard to make sure I can finish this thing.

The point I’m making here is that this bigger challenge – bigger than the everyday stuff we all have to do – is getting me focussed and making sure I train hard and put in the work to make the ride a success. It might also lead me to do more racing and get my legs strong enough to go up some bigger hills. Maybe even the French Alps one day. Who knows?

Set yourself a challenge and see where it takes you. Until you try, you’re never going to really know what you’re capable of. Use it to give you focus and create some energy and drive to achieve.

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Ian Mountford is a global recruitment expert and strategy coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally.

The psychology of greatness

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I read quite a bit about golf when I have the time and Bob Rotella is one of my favourites. He is a psychologist who has helped some of the greats and his teachings are, in essence, very simple. He talks a lot about the psychology of greatness and his study over the years has been about what makes champions in all sports, not just golf. I also think his teachings can be applied in all areas, not just golf. Below are just a few and I hope you can see the crossover:

  • Champions are ordinary people doing extraordinary things
  • Play to be great everyday
  • If you get yourself in the right frame of mind you can find out how good you can be
  • Learn to love your game and not wish you had someone else’s
  • Talent means zero. It has way more to do with what you bring to it than just natural ability
  • Examine your doubts in your own abilities and then lose them
  • Know how to play when not in the zone
  • Cultivate trust – be able to hit shots under pressure with a clear head

Trying out a new networking concept

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Sport and networking are a very good combination. Some of the best contacts I have made over the years have sport at their core and there have been some great memories from days out at sporting events with business contacts. I have also found out lots of useful information by being able to spend more time than just a quick call or a formal meeting with someone that has been helpful in a business context.

Now, I’m a weekly golfer here in the north west of the UK and take every opportunity I can to get outdoors and hit some balls. At the end of last year I tried to set up a very informal golf networking society with a few of my contacts where we would play every few weeks and then invite new contacts but it took a lot of time to organise which I couldn’t spare. We also had a few people drop out at short notice which is never ideal and I decided to put it on ice.

Then along came Fore Business – a company that has been constructed to organise the ideal opportunity for networking over a round of golf – the bonus being the ability to spend a few hours with someone and find out lots about them while also playing a round on a great course. Played the first round as a guest this week and joined up for more on a monthly basis. Really enjoyed the format and made a couple of excellent new connections in the process.

All the signs are that it will be a strong network and I might even win a couple of matches over the months. Will be inviting my contacts who I know play golf but if you fancy a game please give me a shout.

A bit more running

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running

In 2012 I managed to cause some nasty damage to my right knee. It had been weakened over years of running distances up to the marathon on hard roads and a lack of any strength training to build muscle to support the joints doing all of the work. I had completed Paris marathon for the second time and was coming back to prepare for the Amsterdam half marathon at a small 10k. I was doing some simple stretches afterwards and the meniscus in my right knee ripped and that was that. The specialist I saw told me at the time that I should avoid running from that point on as it would advance the onset of all sorts of nasty pain and I did not a lot more from then apart from the normal efforts of middle age men to avoid not fitting into their clothes.

I started doing some very specific strength training about six months ago and have worked to build up the muscles that support my knees as well as some other rehab work on a shoulder injury. I’ve also developed my hamstrings, glutes, back and all of the muscles that keep you moving forwards at a little more than fast walking speed and I thought I would have a go at running short distances again and see how things felt. I’ve been very frustrated by not doing something that I have always loved and I looked into stem cell treatment to grow back the meniscus but it’s prohibitively expensive and I had mentally let any thoughts of running again fade away. I didn’t start the strength work to be able to run again but I’ve talked to a few people who know about these things and they have all said that I should give it another try. Start out light on softer surfaces and at easy pace, then see where it leads.

So Katherine and I moved to Warrington a few weeks back and Katherine has recently started to run with a couple of 10k’s under her belt now and is progressing very well. Katherine looked into what was happening locally when we got here and she came across ParkRun from a friend’s recommendation – a 5k run where you can sign up, turn up and run for free every Saturday morning – and the next thing you know I am on the start line with Katherine. We ran our first one together in about 30 mins and had a lot of fun. I was very cautious and watching every step for knee pain or any problems but got none at all and was very happy with being out there again and running.

I’ve been giving it a little bit more of a test over the weeks on the treadmill and it has responded well – still no pain and some decent speeds. I wanted to have a crack at pushing the pace outdoors and so we went back to ParkRun last weekend and put the hammer down. No real preparation other than a handful of 15 minute treadmill sessions and I got around in 24.16 with no pain and followed up with another 8 miles of walking around the golf course. Very pleased at being able to get it done again and not setting any goals past keeping the knee strong and pain free, but very happy. I ran 20.20 when I was running marathons in under four hours more than ten years back so it will be good to see if I can get back to this kind of speed so we will see.

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Ian Mountford is a Strategy Coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally.

Can 4 kilos and 8mph make you a champion?

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I found an article I had taken from the sports section of a UK newspaper back in 2007 written by Brad Gilbert, coach of tennis player Andy Murray at the time. This was way before he was the champion that he has become and Gilbert was explaining what it was going to take to make Murray No1 in the world rankings.

andy murray serving

Gilbert had focussed on these two metrics – bodyweight and speed of serve – because he felt this was what would get the maximum possible game out of the player. He also felt that if he achieved these two metrics, the ranking would take care of itself. He didn’t want to talk about numbers or results or become obsessed on hitting a particular spot – he just wanted to make his player the best he could be.

murray wimbledon

This approach can be a really strong one to take in order to stay focussed. Fix the things you can change and don’t worry about the stuff you can’t. Work on the things that make you better and get the most out of yourself every day. The bigger things will take care of themselves over time. Yes, you need to be dedicated, work hard, be determined, a fighter, etc and all these things that lead to making winners, but also try taking this approach using specifics and see if it can work for you.

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Ian Mountford is a Strategy Coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally.

20 mins to game time. Warrington Wolves v St George Illawara #rugbyleague (at Halliwell Jones Stadium)