MILES & MINDSET
Miles & Mindset is an educational video series on mental performance training for athletes of all levels, hosted by Rebecca Rusch and Brent Bookwalter. Most athletes spend 10+ hours a week on physical training and less than 10 minutes on mental training. This disparity leaves a big opportunity to elevate your performance with intentional mindset training. This series brings together science-backed tools, real-life elite racing experience, and practical application to help you train your performance mindset.
Meet Your Hosts
Brent Bookwalter spent 20 years as an elite professional road cyclist and is an Olympian and Tour de France rider. He holds a master's degree in Applied Sport and Performance Psychology and works as a mental performance coach.
Rebecca Rusch spent 30 years as a pro athlete in climbing, adventure racing, paddling, and cycling. She is a 7x world champion, Gravel and Mountain Bike Hall of Famer, and trained as an athlete mental health advisor, and she works in athlete mentorship and peer support.
The Series
Episode 1 - Roots: Values and Motivation
Why we show up and how we keep showing up. Find the three to five values that guide your decisions, build a bigger motivational menu, and ask yourself whether you're running toward something or away from it.
Resources
-
The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer by Steven Kotler
-
How Bad Do You Want It? by Matt Fitzgerald
Episode 2 - Trunk: Mindfulness, Breath, and Confidence
The mind and body is one connected unit through the nervous system. Learn to dial your nervous system up or down with your breath as you practice mindfulness as awareness, acceptance, and reaiming your attention, building confidence from the inside out.
Resources
-
Breathwork guide: Breathe to Shift Your State
-
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
-
The Way of Excellence by Brad Stulberg
-
The First Rule of Mastery by Dr. Michael Gervais
Episode 3 - Branches and Fruit: Visualization, Routine, and Fear
You don't need to add two hours to your day. Stack visualization, self talk, pre- and post-race routines, pressure practice, and your support team onto the training you already do, then decide for yourself what winning looks like.
Resources
-
My Mental Training Plan: Stack it, don't add it. This fill-in plan is built on the Performance Tree and lays out what to do daily, weekly, and every quarter. It includes the PETTLEP visualization guide.
-
Breathing techniques: ten breathing patterns for stress, focus, and better sleep
Bonus: Tour de France Femmes Edition
The same tools, seen through the biggest race in cycling. Watch all nine episodes here.
Ask Us
This is meant to be done in community. Send us your questions by email, and we'll answer them in the comments or in a future episode.