In this solo episode, Chris explains energy management, the skill that sits above self-talk, visualization, and every other mental skill in your toolbox. You will learn why endurance events are energy cascades, how your physical, intellectual, and emotional inputs all draw from one pool, and how the 1-to-5 arousal scale shows whether your energy fits the day’s job. Chris then carries the same three questions from a single workout and race to a training block, a season, and a ten-year career.

Laura Siddall started triathlon in 2009, won four age group world titles, turned professional in 2013, and became a multiple Ironman champion with two top-ten finishes at the Ironman World Championship in 2022. In this episode of The Infirmary, Laura describes the biggest hole of her career: being hit by a car at Ironman Brazil in 2023, the brain bleed that followed, and the physical, mental, and financial slide that came after a wild-card return to Kona. She talks through her decision to retire, the grief of the first year without racing, and the work of building an identity beyond the sport. Laura also shares her coaching pet peeves (swim watches, auto lap, ERG mode, and the belief that more training is better), explains how forced rest taught her what sleep does for mood and energy, and tells the story behind her motto, “Don't Die Wondering.” The conversation closes with Sid Squad, her mentorship program for young female triathletes, and the support system she wanted to build for professional athletes at the PTO.

Visualization is one of the most widely cited mental skills in endurance sport, and one of the least practiced. Athletes talk about it, nod when a coach brings it up, and go home without doing any of it. In this solo episode, I break down visualization into three distinct types — outcome imagery, in-race imagery, and coping imagery — with a specific protocol for each, built around one core premise: visualization convinces your brain the outcome it desires has already happened.