The Psychology Behind Peak Running Performance with Dr. Trent Claypool

“Performance is your potential minus interference - and the brain often interferes with how well we want to do.” Many runners struggle to translate their training to racing, because of race day nerves, negative self-talk, or fear of discomfort. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Trent Claypool of Summit Sport Psychology to learn how to embrace discomfort, use positive self-talk, and train your brain for your peak performance.

Thank you to our sponsors:

✨ Tailwind: Complete sport nutrition made simple, including hydration mixes, high-carb sport drinks, endurance fuel, and recovery mixes. Use code TREADLIGHTLY20 at https://tailwindnutrition.com/TREADLIGHTLY for 20% off your first purchase.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ Why accepting discomfort is more effective than avoiding discomfort

✅ How to train to tolerate discomfort

✅ How to use positive self-talk effectively

✅ The benefit of staying present in the moment

✅ How to use visualization

✅ The role that stress hormones play in sport psychology

Tread Lightly Running is hosted and researched by Amanda Brooks and Laura Norris, MSc. Production, show notes, and graphics by Laura Norris.

About our guest:

Dr. Trent Claypool is a licensed sports psychologist with 15 years of experience. He has worked with hundreds of athletes both virtually and personally, including NCAA and professionals.

You can connect with Dr. Claypool at https://summitsportpsychology.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/summit.sport.psychology