Our sports psychology partner Fit-Think offer this advice to help you optimise your mental (and physical) performance:

1) Know yourself

The first and most important thing you can do is to get an understanding of yourself. Pay attention to how you tend to react to events, how do you normally talk to yourself, what do you find helpful/unhelpful. Then be honest and brave in light of what you find.

2) Be compassionate to yourself

This doesn't mean being 'soft'! It means being supportive, recognising when you do things well, and giving yourself some slack when things don't go so well. Accept help and support from others as a resource and even if you don’t always agree with advice or ideas, understand that those people are likely trying their best (for you) as well.

3) Plan for the worst and the best

Having a race plan is useful, but what will you do if it doesn't go to plan? What will you do if things are going better than expected? Being able to plan in advance means that you already have the reactions ready and can be confident of knowing what to do.

4) Check if you are catastrophising

How do you react to bad things happening? Are you being realistic or do you blow them out of proportion? Is it a 'disaster' if your shoes fall apart or can you be rational? A key phrase can be "I would rather this hadn't happened but I have the skills to cope with it." Remember that trying something will always give you answers. Not trying will only leave you with questions. 

5) Focus in the 'right' places

Consider where you put your mental energy. Spending time worrying about unknowns or uncontrollables tends to be a waste of energy. Practice focusing on things that matter and are controllable. Everything else is just background noise. Whenever possible notice what’s happening to you physically, respond before it becomes a crisis both physically and emotionally.