Coaches and athletes talk about the semi-mythical “flow state” a lot, but there is precious little information about how to achieve flow state. Those same coaches and athletes seem to leave it up to chance, but as you all (I hope) know, hope is not a strategy!

In today’s episode, which is the companion piece to the guided meditation just below this one in the feed, we talk about ways to practice presence in your training and racing, since all that flow state is is a state of heightened presence in the moment, when distractions and obstacles seem to fall away. If you read last week’s Substack post, you’ll see the connection here to getting away from thinking, because when we think we tend to make judgments, and if you are judging you are reflecting or ruminating, not present in the moment.

The episode opens with a real athlete meltdown (the kind most of us have had at some point) to explore how perception and self-judgment are the first things standing between you and your best performance. From there, we make a connection between traditional meditation and the way you approach a hard interval — and explains why those two things are basically the same skill. You don't need an app, a cushion, or a monastery. You need your next workout and a willingness to notice where your brain actually goes when things get hard.