166. Dr. Amber Shipherd on Building Confidence, Self-Efficacy, and Positive Self-Talk
Release Date: 11/19/2020
How ‘Coach of the Year’ Sean Brosnan Revolutionized Newbury Park’s Cross Country Team
The Strength Running Podcast
Coach turned around a struggling Newbury Park high school cross country team that hadn't qualified for a State Championship in 25 years. Soon, they had won three consecutive National Championships. How did he do it? Sean shares the psychological and physical strategies he used to instill belief, develop fitness, and build the bond between teammates. His all-in, often unorthodox approach, raised eyebrows but undeniably got incredible results. Himself a distinguished endurance runner, Sean was a collegiate All-American in both cross country and track and holds a personal best of 3:44.33 in the...
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The 7 Best Recovery Strategies (Learned From 15 Years of Coaching)
The Strength Running Podcast
What are the most effective recovery strategies for runners? In this episode, Jason distills his 15+ years of coaching and 27 years of running experience into the most important lessons about the recovery process. Hindsight is 20/20! For more on recovery, download our free and you'll hear advice from 9 elite athletes including Dathan Ritzenhein, Amelia Boone, and more. Thank you for listening and subscribing to the Strength Running Podcast! Thank you Previnex! After resisting most supplements for the better part of my life, I’m cautiously changing my tune. I’m now a Masters runner and in...
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How to Improve the 3 Running Thresholds (Z2, LT, and VO2 Max), with Phil Batterson, PhD
The Strength Running Podcast
Phil Batterson is a competitive runner, former running coach, and the founder of Critical Oxygen. Phil has a PhD in human bioenergetics and a love for all sorts of endurance sports, from rowing to track and field and ultras. His goal with Critical Oxygen is to teach athletes and coaches how to optimize their physiology to maximize endurance performance. This episode is important and is a repost of episode 330 from 2023. Phil breaks down some of the complex physiology behind the three different thresholds to make it more accessible, as well as providing practical ways to apply it in training....
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How to Create a Marathon Breakthrough: A Coaching Call on Massive Marathon Improvement
The Strength Running Podcast
Dan joins us on the podcast today: a runner who recently improved his marathon from 3:38 to 3:08. In this conversation, Dan shares what he did to improve by a massive 30 minutes over 26.2 miles. But what if he wants to keep going? What if Dan wants to run another 30 minutes faster and start flirting with a sub-2:40 marathon? We'll cover what training changes need to happen to break 3 and run a much more competitive marathon finish time. Thanks to Dan for coming on the podcast and sharing his story! More resources: Thank you Previnex! After resisting most supplements for the...
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The Path to Going Pro: How Annie Rodenfels Went from D3 to Elite Runner
The Strength Running Podcast
is a 7x All-American in the steeplechase and 5,000m, national champion, Drake Relays 3,000m steeplechase champion, and 2x Olympic Trials qualifier. Annie is also one of the few pro runners to come from a Division III school. In this episode, we discuss her path to going pro: The evolution of her career from college to now Her experience with the new pro team Meridia How she trains today (mileage levels, long runs, etc.) Her approach to double workouts in one day How she manages energy and caffeine for 8:30pm races A lot more! You can support her team Meridia by registering for their virtual...
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Inside the Science of Wearable Tech with Dr. Peter Tierney (Hardware, Metrics, & More)
The Strength Running Podcast
When you get a new smart watch, heart rate monitor, or other type of wearable, do you know how it will help your running, specifically? is a health and performance researcher, consultant, and coach who’s worked with many professional sports organizations across Europe. He joins us today to discuss the science behind wearable tech. We discuss: The wearable stack that Peter recommends Most important metrics to focus on Recommended hardware (specific products) What you can safely ignore Why the actual metric may not be as important as the trend over time Peter first joined the...
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Heat Training Q&A: How to Structure & Benefit from Heat Training
The Strength Running Podcast
Runners are heat training more often with saunas, hot tubs, and hot weather runs. How much do we need to realize the full benefits of heat training? What are the best options and how do we structure it into our training? In this episode, coach Jason Fitzgerald shares how to think about heat training from duration to frequency to type of heat training. Resources: article Thanks Boulderthon! is a top 10 race in America according to USA Today and one of the best fall marathons according to Runner’s World. With a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and marathon, Boulderthon offers an...
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Dr. Phil Skiba on Breaking2, How to Build Critical Power, and the Secret to a Fast Kick
The Strength Running Podcast
Dr. Philip Skiba is a physician, performance consultant for the Breaking 2 project, coach to dozens of world class athletes, and author of . Phil is a world-class expert on running physiology and how to race faster. His groundbreaking research into Critical Power, Critical Speed, and the "W Prime" model of fatigue help the best runners in the world plan their training. And the best coaches seek him out for guidance. In this conversation, we discuss: How to determine and improve your "critical speed" His work with Avelo (get your pair of !) The under-discussed "battery" of speed...
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American Record Holder Keira D’Amato on Setbacks, Being a “Bulldozer,” & Fun Running
The Strength Running Podcast
holds the American record in the 10-mile and is the former half-marathon and marathon American record holder. Her new book, , is now available for preorder. She was a 4x All-American at American University in both Cross Country and Track but took about a decade off from running seriously in her 20's and 30's. Keira joined us on the to discuss her comeback to running. Now, she's back to discuss what that comeback looked like and how she made it happen. Keira and Jason discuss: Her mental relationship with running How it felt not being able to jog to the end of her street...
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Olympian Colleen Quigley on Injuries, Triathlon Misadventures, and Her New Pro Track Team Meridia
The Strength Running Podcast
Colleen Quigley is a 2016 Olympian, steeplechaser, and former model. She accepted a full scholarship to Florida State University, where she became a nine-time NCAA All-American and a 2015 NCAA Champion in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Colleen went on to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, finishing 8th in the 3000-meter steeplechase. She is also a current world record-holder in the 4x1500-meter relay, set in 2020. In this episode, we discuss Colleen's: Recent training and the types of workouts she's doing Current battles with injuries Brief stint as a triathlete New athlete-owned pro...
info_outlineSelf-efficacy is one of the most important concepts in the world of performance psychology. Most of us understand this idea as "confidence" but it's actually more specific than that. It means:
"Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments."
Now you might have a lot of questions:
- How can we better prioritize our mental fitness so that we believe in our abilities?
- What are the sources of self-efficacy so we can draw from them during training?
- How can we use mantras for running to our advantage?
- Are there strategies for building confidence training (or self-efficacy training) into our running?
To help us answer these critical questions, I invited Dr. Amber Shipherd onto the podcast.
Dr. Amber Shipherd is an assistant professor and performance psychology program coordinator at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She's also a certified mental performance consultant and owner of Next Level Mind Consulting.
She is a member of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee Sports Psychology Registry and an Executive Committee Member with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.
And thankfully for us, she's an expert on self-efficacy!
She joins us on the Strength Running Podcast to discuss the intricacies of confidence:
- Why confidence is not nearly as valuable as self-efficacy
- Strategies for building self-efficacy while running
- Mindset traps that sap confidence and leave you doubting yourself
- Best practices for incorporating imagery and personal affirmations in your running
Links & Resources from the Show:
- Follow Amber on Twitter
- Visit Amber's website
- How to thrive during adversity
- My favorite mantras