Peak Performance - Stay Motivated Throughout the Season

Okay, so you've had some games (races, matches, tournaments) and the end of the season is still several weeks away. Of course each time you compete is important, but when it counts the most for doing your best is the end of the season (or in some cases, the playoffs). Collegiate sports recruiters might only pay attention to this time in your career and how you perform when it's "crunch" time or how you place in the State competitions. We remember top athletes like Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, and Tiger Woods the most from how they perform in the big games (races, tournaments, etc.). What are some ways to avoid getting into a midseason lull or slump when the importance of these competitions is low?

One quick way that I kept motivated was by picking up a newspaper and looking at the fastest times in the County up to that point. I would see where I was in relation to other runners and then set goals to run faster times (in the mile, or 2 mile races). I was also always alert because a good friend of mine was arguably the best runner in the state and since we were in different classes we wouldn't compete, so I would try to keep up with him in how fast I ran. I also had another friend of mine in Saginaw that was almost as good as me. In fact one week I noticed he had run a faster time than I did in the mile, so my motivation for the next race was to beat his time so I could be ahead of him in the newspaper. It happened to be a track meet against a conference rival, who didn't have any real threat in distance runners, so I ran the mile for a fast time and ended up running what would be my fastest high school time.

Another obvious way to keep motivated is realizing that the more games you win (or the faster your times), the better you will be seeded for the end of the season playoffs, or regional competitions. If I was going to get a good position for some important end of the season races (kind of like having pole position) I would have to run the fastest time for that particular race. This ended up working out for me as I gained "pole position" for the conference meet, regional meet, and meet of champs.

I also kept motivated by setting challenges for myself, such as running faster times each week or maintaining a certain pace for the entire race. If you're in baseball (softball) this could mean getting at least so many hits/game or if you're in tennis it could be holding your serve or serving more aces.

When I was competing in college my midseason motivation was different, as each week I had to perform my best just so I could do well enough to travel with the team to the next race. Since it was more competitive and I also had plenty of guys on my own team that could beat me at any given time I had to stay sharp.

In addition to keeping motivated at this time of the year, it's also very important that you do everything you can to make sure to avoid injuries. Doing plenty of stretching the muscles and giving plenty of recovery time after hard efforts will help you stay in your best form to be able to compete the whole season.