Stress fractures are some of the slowest-healing and most disruptive sports injuries around. These painful bone injuries are often seen in athletes who participate in endurace sports such as running or triathlon or other high-impact activities such as football or cheerleading. Typical medical protocol, depending on severity and placement of the fracture is a minimum of six weeks and sometimes longer. The layoff from activity can be quite difficult for the athlete; therefore I will propose some suggestions for mental management and recovery from stress fractures. Note: The following is recommended to be included alongside a medically supervised recovery and... Continue reading

I greatly enjoy the Olympics: watching them, discussing them, sitting back and appreciating the talent and work that athletes of all sports and countries bring to the world's stage. It's awesome. Now that the 2012 London games have been a permanent fixture on my TV for a week, I thought I'd share some of my observations/musings/random thoughts that may or not make sense. First, expectations are just that-expectations. Often arbitrary and never certain, we have witnessed both triumphs and 'disappointments' (according to the media) and performances not live up to hype or speculation. For example, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte... Continue reading

The following is a podcasted version from a radio interview with 91.9 KCBS out of Santa Barbara, CA on June 26, 2012. The content is running-oriented, but helpful tips are discussed for the mental games of all athletes. Enjoy- Questions are welcome! http://leosbluesland.podomatic.com/entry/2012-06-28T11_40_25-07_00 Continue reading

Given that I work with a lot of swimmers in my practice and the USA Olympic Swim Trials coming up at the end of the month in Omaha, I chose to repost this article on performance anxiety management. The original article can be found here. There are a couple things to highlight in this piece: first being the differences between somatic and cognitive anxiety-anxiety presents itself in both our thoughts and our physical sensations. It's important to know the difference and develop skills for addressing both types. Second, some potential causes are discussed. One thing I always try to emphasize... Continue reading

With Philadelphia and Boston all knotted up at 3-3, Miami one game away from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals, and let's not forget San Antonio and Oklahoma City already waiting in the wings for the Western Conference Championships to start. Let's not forget the ongoing tabloid and TV dissection of the Los Angeles Lakers: the aging Kobe and the controversial Andrew Bynum. The one thing these teams have in common is how differently they conduct themselves on the court. Just as each individual athlete has their style and personality, so does a sports team. Like individual athletes, teams have... Continue reading

The importance of a good coach and their respective attributes is a frequent topic in my professional, athletic, and personal life (which is perhaps most important). Personally, I have been very fortunate to have run with a coach since late 2008 and recently gaining some advice for swimming, as I am entering the sport of Triathlon. Both coaches are awesome guys; very knowledgeable and have somewhat different styles (as different sports obviously call for difference in approaches). And it is working for me so far. I think I'll continue to become a more physically and mentally tough athlete by experiencing... Continue reading

Darcie brought her son to see us for our NeuroWellness Program. Testing indicated that he had a number of food sensitivities. Working with us to learn what foods were not supportive of his body and how to build a better nutritional plan she was able to make significant modifications to... Continue reading

Each April, the PGA's best congregates upon Augusta, GA's fabled greens for a shot at the Green Jacket and one of professional golf's most prestigious titles. This year's event promised more drama than a Shakespearean epic on Broadway, with Tiger Woods coming off his first win in several years and of course Phil Mickelson's relatively consistent play over the past few seasons. The interesting thing about golf is, however, is how anything can seemingly happen on any given day. Everyone at the tourney has the talent to be on that stage but it is up to the strongest mentally to... Continue reading

So very often athletes come into my office telling me that they're feeling "pressure". After hearing the dreaded 'p' word, I usually promptly ask: "who and where is it coming from?". What I still find surprising is that they struggle to find origins of these negative feelings, at least at first. Typically, when an athlete seeks outside support, pressure to perform has been present for an extended period of time and regularly interferes with their performances and in some cases-their relationships and daily lives. The good news is, while there is some stress (often of more positve nature) associated with... Continue reading

In brainstorming what topic to explore for today's post. A conversation with a colleague and my own personal athletic musings brought up Jim Loehr's classical recovery principle of wave-making. What exactly is making waves, you might ask?? I'll provide a brief definition here and go into some ways you can incorporate it into your training. As many of you are aware, I work with several and am myself an endurance athlete. We're a driven bunch by nature; often driven to push hard all the time, no matter what. We tend to expect improvement for our hard, relentless efforts day in... Continue reading

This morning I was going over a brief article written by Dr. Patrick Cohn of Peak Sports in Orlando. Dr. Cohn is an expert in perfectionism in youth sport especially, but these factors I've seen in all ages and levels. Theses characteristics occur in different levels depending on the athlete in question, however the pattern appears farily common. According to Cohn, perfectionistic athletes often do the following: * Generally perform better in practice than game situations. * Want to excel badly, which makes them anxious and afraid of failing. * Are afraid of making mistakes. * Worry too much about... Continue reading

The following is a reposting of an article I recently wrote for "Deer Tracks", the monthly newsletter of The Woodlands Running Club in The Woodlands, TX. Given the marathon season is in full swing with triathlon soon to follow, I thought I'd share a response to a question posed in February's "Ask Adrienne" column: Q: I was talking to my friend who when he was racing was the king of the early adjustment. What I mean is for a particular event his goal pace might be in the 6:40 range (depending on the distance and most of the time he... Continue reading

Proper kitchen cleanliness for produce including a recipe for a produce wash. Continue reading

how to make your own Greek style yogurt at home. Continue reading

recipe for a calming bath Continue reading

..."For the next 15 minutes of so...it's mental training time..." This is typically how the run-focused audio prompts begin voiced over by Bob Kinnison-the voice behind Athlete's Audio. As simple a line as that might be, I find it to be a helpful in cueing a relaxed athlete get into their performance zone while seated in the comfort of their own home/dorm room/airplane seat, etc. Some of you may have been already introduced to Bob through this interview posted a few months ago. Working in conjunction with practitioners all over the country, a series of sport-specific pre-recorded imagery exercises were... Continue reading

It started at the beginning of this NFL season with a direct answer to a direct question to the aforementioned QB: Q: "Do you consider yourself and elite quarterback?"; A: "Yes" (or something along those lines). Eli Manning's honesty seemed to generate much controversy and public opinion, with many public opinion disagreeing with his statement. Flash forward to Super Bowl XLVI and the American public opinion may need to be revisited about Eli Manning-at least when it comes to the superior mental game of the Giant's quarterback. While I viewed the game fairly unbiased towards the result, some interesting observations... Continue reading

Originally aired on January 19th, this running-focused discussion with Chris Russell of RunRunLive, offers a little something for everyone. Topics covered include overcoming doubt, self-talk, and a bit on the mental side of sport. This is my first foray into the podcast world, hopefully with more to come and learn in the process. Enjoy. Link to podcast : http://networkedblogs.com/sYW1y Thank you RunRunLive for taking the time to talk sports psych! Stay the course. Continue reading

I'm a huge proponent of visual and environmental cues as a staple to any mental training program. By consistently attending to positive cues, we slowly program our subconscious mind. It's like filling a well with a steady rain-when you need "a drink" you will have plenty of positive energy to access. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of positive statements on mood. Not only can visual cues help your performance and self-belief, but they can help make you a more positive individual overall! I have shared a few snapshots of the cues I have all around my place. I often... Continue reading

Understanding gluten free and resources for GF Oats Continue reading

Interview 1 0f 2 from December, 21, 2011 with Bob Kennison of Athletes Audio. Also featured at athletesaudio.com. Enjoy! Continue reading

This past weekend I was fortunate to get an in depth, up-close-and-personal perspective at the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trial; seeing both starts and finishes for both men's and women's races as well as serve as an athlete escort. The start was especially intense and you could feel it in the air and see it in the athlete 's faces. After the tedious prestart moments, at the end of the day it was down to 3. I will elaborate more on the. Women 's race because I had more time with "backstage" as a volunteer for the women's race. I did... Continue reading

The following post is also featured on the website for the Bill Crews Remission Run. If you are in the Southeast Texas area on January 28, I highly recommend this 5k run benefitting Lymphoma research. This is for all athletes who have lost a loved one or are currently dealing with terminal illness. November 13, 2011. This is a day in my world that will never be forgotten. What I had hoped to be just another fun, quality race turned into one of the greatest challenges of my athletic career. However, the challenge was not the 13.1 mile distance that... Continue reading

Our clinic works with each client in order to formulate their individualized, integrated treatment plan, which focuses on treating the whole person through a combination of psychotherapy, counseling , coaching, working memory training, social skills training, medication or alternatives to medication. via addwellnessgroup.typepad.com Continue reading

Welcome to the last days of 2011. As I sit here reflecting back on my competitive year I thought I'd offer some nuggets of semi-wisdom and guidance -mental training style, of course- as you renew with a fresh set of 12 months. I encourage everyone to take honest stock of the here and now and move forward towards meeting your potential in 2012. It all starts with the a simple question: Where are you at? That is the first step in self-assessment. Be honest with yourself (brutally so if necessary). Did you accomplish what you set out to do? Did... Continue reading