Mental Performance Training for
Runners & T&F
Mental performance coaching for runners and track & field athletes looking to run freely, trust their preparation, and compete with confidence.
Your fitness may not be the problem…
& the solution may not be continuing to train harder. What if the solution is fine tuning your mental skills?
Running gives you something many sports don't. And that’s a lot of time alone with your thoughts.
Before a run or race, there's time to worry about what lies ahead. Afterward, there's an opportunity to replay every difficult moment or mistake. But even while competing, you can spend time alone with your thoughts, questioning your pace, focusing on discomfort, or doubting whether you can keep going. One negative thought can quickly turn into several if your mind doesn't recover from it.
While developing your physical fitness is essential, your ability to manage your thoughts, emotions, and focus often determines how consistently you perform. Learning to stay present, trust your preparation, and respond well to discomfort and adversity is the difference that turns good runners into great ones.
You may struggle with…
✓ Overthinking before races, at the starting line, or during races
✓ Struggling to let go of a bad race, mile, split, or finish
✓ Running great in practice but not on race day
✓ Losing confidence after one disappointing run
✓ Obsessing over your times, pace, and results
✓ Feeling pressure before a race begins
✓ Doubting yourself when discomfort sets in
✓ Fear of not running to your potential
✓ Comparing yourself to other runners or times
✓ Struggling to stay mentally strong when you’re alone or not in the place that you want to be
✓ Uncertainty with how to train your mental game
These are incredibly common challenges. AND, they’re trainable.
Mental performance is a skill that can be built,
not just a mindset.
How mental performance training helps
Through mental performance training, we’ll learn how to:
✓ Reset after bad races or miles
✓ Stay focused on the moment that you’re in
✓ Build lasting confidence
✓ Run strategically instead of conservatively
✓ Separate your identity from your times
✓ Trust your preparation
✓ Create a consistent pre-race routine
✓ Handle pressure of big races and big moments
✓ Push through the physical pain
Skills we build
We help athletes develop:
✓ Confidence
✓ Reset routines
✓ Self-talk
✓ Focus cues
✓ Mindfulness
✓ Breathing techniques
✓ Imagery
✓ Process-focused thinking
✓ Pre-performance routines
✓ Emotional regulation
FAQs
What do sessions look like?
Every athlete is different, so sessions are tailored to your goals and challenges. Together, we’ll come up with a game plan for our work together and individualize practical mental skills you can use during practices and competitions.
Logistically, our initial intake session is 50-minutes and follow-ups are 40-minutes. You can schedule session by session, or we do monthly options with 4, 2, or 1 session per month.
Why do individual sport athletes benefit from mental performance training?
Individual sports place a unique mental load on athletes.
There are no teammates to hide behind, every performance feels personal, mistakes can feel like they define you, and success or failure often feels entirely on your shoulders.
Mental performance training helps athletes learn how to compete with confidence, resilience, and trust in themselves, regardless of the outcome.
How do I get started?
Contact us or schedule a call to get connected with Kiley to hop on a phone to start discussing your game plan!
Where do I need to be located to work with you?
All sessions take place via Zoom. If you are in the Fort Collins or Denver areas, contact us to talk about in person options.
Meet Kiley, CMPC
Kiley Smith is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) with a Master's degree in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology who specializes in helping individual sport athletes perform with greater confidence, consistency, and enjoyment. As a lifelong athlete herself with experience in tennis, running, golf, and other individual sports, she understands the unique mental demands that come with competing when all eyes are on you. Kiley works with individual sport athletes to develop practical mental skills that help them manage pressure, overcome setbacks, trust their preparation, and compete with confidence so they can perform at their best. She has worked with athletes across a variety of individual sports, including golf, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, dance, running, archery and more.