High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 37: Chasing a Dream at Any Age With Pro Triathlete, Ruth Brennan Morrey

Episode Date: March 30, 2016

Ruth Brennan Morrey’s triathlon sporting history is certainly a nontraditional one! As a former Division I soccer player, Ruth “mistakenly” qualified for the 2000 Olympic Trials where she finished 34th out of 210 qualifiers. She took 10 years off from racing and competing due to burnout. In 2011, she took a dare to compete in her first half-ironman and a few years later at age 37, she turned pro. She has been unstoppable ever since! In this inspiring interview, Ruth talks life balance (oh, she also has three kiddos – ages 11, 8 and 6), competitive drive, and staying fueled with purpose and passion. She described her worst race as also her best race where she learned a new level of suffering and how “difficulties and roadblocks are part of our plan.” She talks about how she uses mindfulness to control her mind which she learned as part of her PhD in Counseling Psychology. Prepared to be inspired to go after any goal or dream you have after listening to this interview! We’d love to hear from you! Tell us what stood out to you about this interview, by sending a Tweet to Ruth at @RBrennanMorrey and Cindra at @Mentally_Strong. For more information about Ruth, visit: http://www.ruthbrennanmorrey.com.

Welcome to High Performance Mindset with Dr. Sindra Kampoff. Do you want to reach your full potential, live a life of passion, go after your dreams? Each week we bring you strategies and interviews to help you ignite your mindset. Let's bring on Sindra. Welcome to the High Performance Mindset Podcast. This is your host, Sindra Kampoff, and thank you so much for joining me here today on the High Performance Mindset. I'm grateful that you're here ready to listen to an interview with Ruth Brennan-Murray. Now, there's many reasons I chose Ruth to interview today on the podcast, but one of the reasons was I got an email from a listener just like you who said,

Sindra, have you ever considered interviewing an Ironman triathlete? Because of all athletes, man, they seem to be the most mentally tough. And I was like, oh, of course. And I knew exactly who I wanted to interview. And that's Ruth Brennan-Morrie. Now, there's many reasons I wanted to interview, and that's Ruth Brennan-Morrie. Now, there's many reasons I wanted to interview Ruth. First of all, she's a professional Ironman triathlete. She has a master's degree in sports psychology and a PhD in counseling psychology, so I knew we'd be able to have a

great conversation about mindset and psychology and how these principles inform her life and inform her training. And you can hear that throughout the interview today. She's also the mother of three. She has three kids, ages 11, 8, and 6. And so she has to balance being a mother, but also competing at the highest level. And her resume athletically is incredibly impressive. You hear a little bit about the interview throughout the interview.

She talks about her resume, but if you look at her athletic resume, it's like first, first, first, first, first, incredibly impressive. And throughout this interview, we talk about a lot of really key principles. We talk about mindfulness and how her training in her PhD

program on mindfulness has really allowed her to compete at this level. She talks about how she uses that in her life and in her training and then in the race. So pay attention to that. It's really good stuff. We also talk about purpose throughout this interview and she talked about competing at the Olympic trials in the marathon which she just she just qualified for by chance I don't think a lot of people do that but how she did not actually have her purpose kind of front and center while she was doing that and she burned out of running but now she keeps her purpose front and center and then we talk quite a bit about how difficulties happen for you not to you and how difficulties and roadblocks are designed as part of your plan so she talks about being grateful for the difficult times and she talks about her

race in Kona this year as being one of her worst performances, but the best race in her life. So good. We'd love to hear from you. At the end of the interview, we mentioned our Twitter handles, so reach out to us. We'd love to hear what stood out to you about this interview. And if you aren't sure what the Ironman is, she competes at a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and a 26.2-mile marathon. Incredibly physically tough as well as mentally tough. I can't wait to hear what you think about this interview. Reach out to us and tell us what stood out to you. Make it an outstanding week, my friends.

And here is Ruth. Welcome to the High Performance Mindset Podcast. This is your host, Cindra Kampoff, and today I'm really excited to bring an interview with Ruth Brennan Morey. Ruth is a professional triathlete from Rochester, Minnesota, and Ruth, tell us a little bit about your passion and what you do right now. I began triathlon in 2011 as an amateur after a dare to complete a triathlon without having any swim background at all, actually not knowing how to swim. And then after two years of doing pretty well in the sport at age 37, I took my professional license and I've been training and competing full time as I balance my life. Life as mom and a mom of three kids.

Yeah. And your kids are 10, 8 and 5. Is that correct? I need to update my website, but it's 11, 8 and 6. So tell us just how you go about balancing that because it's tough. Just I'm sure, you know know as a as a professional athlete and having three kids at their ages it's a little bit easier for me to balance because I can get up before they even wake up and get one session done and then by the time that they wake up they are you know get them ready for school they go off to school. All three of them go to the same school. And so I have this window of opportunity to get my other work done and be as efficient as possible between the hours of 830 and 4.

And then when my time's up, that's it. Yeah, that's it. Then you're back to being mom and no longer professional athlete. That's right. Yeah. So tell us, Ruth, just a little bit about your journey in getting where you are now. I grew up as a soccer player. I mean, I really have such a strong identity as a soccer player growing up. And I definitely specialized in soccer, but I was always dabbling in other sports, kind of an unstructured play, played football and basketball just for fun.

But soccer was my main priority. And then I had just really good opportunities to play with the state team and the Midwest team and travel to Europe as a teenager. And I was recruited to play at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Division I soccer scholarship. Then in between my soccer seasons, I played down in Chicago, Illinois, for the Chicago Cobras, which was a semi-professional soccer team. Soccer was such a huge part of my college, collegiate career, and such a rewarding experience. Then after my four years of eligibility ran out, I decided I really need to stay in shape. And I loved running. I was always kind of the rabbit

on the soccer team. I'd always go chase the balls and, you know, really was the energizer bunny who always just kept going. Then so after my four years, I decided to sign up for a marathon training class, which was offered at Wisconsin. And so I learned the ins and outs of physiology, not the ins and outs, but I learned the basic physiology, nutrition, biomechanical information, which we had to pass a written test and also we had to run a marathon in order to pass the class. The attrition in that class was huge. It started with, I think, 30 runners and then it dwindled down to about eight by the end of it. So then I did well. My first marathon ran at 315 and then I wanted to break the three-hour barrier. And so my brother, who was a 232 Boston marathoner, he designed a training program for me and paced me for the first 10

miles of Grandma's Marathon in 1999. Then I, during that time, I kind of mistakenly qualified for the Olympic trials. Instead of breaking three hours, I ran a 2.48 marathon. My brother was, as we crossed the finish line, my brother was in tears as we're crossing together because he ended up running the entire marathon with me because he became so excited and no idea what I had just done. So then it just kind of catapulted me into when the Olympic trials in 2000 in Columbia, South Carolina. I could guess that there's not a lot of people that say they mistakenly qualify for the Olympic trials in the marathon. What an inspiring story of just,

you know, taking your training and your commitment up to the next level and just blowing that goal out of the water, you know, running a 248. So tell us what the trials was like. I mean, it was your only third marathon. That's right. And you're here at the Olympic Trials, Columbia, South Carolina. So just tell us about that experience. I was, I mean, I was 23 years old, pretty oblivious to, you know, what I had achieved and how big of a deal it was at the time.

I was, there were 210 qualifiers. Joan Benoit Samuelson was in the race. And I just thought that was just amazing to be able to run in the same race with her competitively. During that time, I really got into the sport without a whole lot of development. It takes years of development to become a good marathoner, and my miles were always done on the soccer field. So I got into just very high mileage, and I was injured five weeks before the trials. So for five weeks, all I did, the only thing that I did was pool run. All of my workouts were in the pool, three hour long runs and interval training. So it was, I didn't know what to expect when I went into the race, but I was just really happy to

finish and ended up with another 248 marathon. So I was pleased. It was a really hot and humid day, but it was just an experience that I'll never forget. Yeah, absolutely. And just to say that you ran there and still ran a 248. And for those people who are listening that aren't sure what a 248 means, my fastest marathon time is like a 305, which is about a seven-minute mile marathon. But what's a 248? What's that equal? It's a 623, 624. Yeah, so fast, so fast.

And it's really cool that you could do that just given five weeks of pool running. I think that actually boosted my performance because I mean, five weeks out, you pretty much have banked all the fitness that you possibly could and physiological adaptations. So the last five weeks is really kind of a time to just keep mentally fit and keep your body fresh. So there's a lot of people think that just, think that just two weeks out and they get a little injury that they need to run through it. That's the worst thing that you can do. Laying off is definitely the best thing. So tell us a little bit about your training right now.

Can you just give us a snapshot? Sure. I train my small weeks are around 12 hours a week, which are kind of recovery weeks. And then it builds up to 28 hours, 30 hours a week, four to six sessions of each swim, bike and run with two strength workouts during the week with my my trainer. OK, so does that how many sessions is that a day then? Two or three. Two or three. Two or three. Excellent. Yeah. So I could see you'd need many hours to get that in throughout the day. Yeah. And then there's the importance of recovery between those sessions as well, which is just part of the job is just trying to stay as recovered as possible for your next session. So Ruth, what do you think has been one or two things that have really contributed to your success, not only as a runner and going to the trials, but your experience as a pro

right now in the Ironman? Most definitely it's the people around me. It's the coaches that I have chosen to guide me and the support team of family, of trainers, of my sponsors. Really, people who I think is important is that people who really have an unconditional investment in my performance and who truly care about me as a person. I think that I've stayed really well balanced as a family mom athlete. And I've been just a very happy and driven athlete overall. And I think that when you have solid relationships and happiness and kind of a gratitude for those things in my life, it's just the best foundation for training and performance in order to have to, you know, be able to succeed. So what I hear you saying is people

around you has made a big difference, but then you stay happy and well balanced and not stressed. So you can really be the best that you can be. For sure. I think just as I think just as important or another factor that has contributed to my success is keeping my purpose alive. When I was distance running, I really, you know, like I said, I didn't know what I was in for. I didn't know what my purpose was. I didn't have one because all of a sudden I had qualified for the trials. I ran in the trials and all of a sudden my identity should have shifted to a distance runner. And I didn't really have the development or the maturity to know what that framework should look like. And so I was running

without a purpose. And that was a huge, huge thing that made me quit the sport and take 10 years of no training, not of no training, of no competing. I didn't run a single 5K for 10 years because I just fell away from the love of it. And it's drastically different now, and that's the game changer. Yeah, tell us, Ruth, what your purpose is and how do you keep that alive now? During the 10 years of not competing at all, I really grew in my faith and I grew in my spiritual life. And as a person, I think I just matured to a different place. And so when I started the sport, I said, I'm not going to start this sport, even as an amateur,

if I don't have that purpose in place. And so I said, you know, I've been given certain gifts and talents and I want to be able to use them in the right way, kind of in a in a way that's really going to make me the best athlete. But in order to be a good athlete, you have to be able to be gracious for the gifts that you are given. So it's really kind of a God-honoring type gift that I've been given, and I remind myself of that. And, yeah, it's really the place that grounds me the most. And I feel it slipping away at times, and I think it's very natural. You start getting greedy. You start losing your mindset you start losing your mindset

and start losing your purpose, but I think the most important thing is taking yourself back to why you started and keeping that alive. Ruth, as you're talking, I can hear how you really make a conscious effort of keeping yourself psychologically fueled. You're talking about reminding yourself of your purpose, why you're doing what you're doing, but then, you know, just keeping yourself happy so that you can stay driven and excited about what you're doing. You know, one of the, Ruth, one of the things that I think is really unique about you is that you have this background, you have this

academic background, a master's degree in sports psychology, PhD in counseling psychology. So tell us how that helps you, you know, stick with your training and continue to do what you're doing. And how does that help you just be at your best? I think I wouldn't have really paired them together. I think, you know, I've been plagued as a kid with this competitive fire with this desire that I just can't seem to kick. And it's really a gift that I shouldn't need to kick or I shouldn't want to kick because it has really helped me excel

in so many different ways. I think that my master's thesis was on self-talk and distance running. And so that was really a lot of fun to understand the affirmations or the negative self-talk and how it can really impact your performance. It has really taught me how to shut off my mind when I need to shut it off for my family, but also when I need to turn it on for performance. My doctorate then, I actually went into my PhD in counseling psychology,

health psychology, because I wanted to work with athletes with disabilities. And also I wanted to work with the general population, rehabilitation population, people with stroke and spinal cord injury and amputations. And my dissertation was on the construct of hope. And hope is such a fascinating concept because it's not like the construct of optimism where we're just kind of are positively wishful of things to happen. Hope has such an action orientation. And the construct really is, you know, about your agency or your motivation, but also looking at different ways to achieve your goal. So when I was doing my dissertation, I would sit bedside with folks with a spinal cord injury, and they could list all the different hopeful individuals could list all the ways that they were going to achieve their goals. They never gave up hope. They never gave up kind of the action orientation of going after it,

of working their butt off in physical therapy and occupational therapy and doing everything it took and then the support system around that goal was just so motivating. And then the folks that really didn't do so well didn't have that hope. They didn't have the, they kind of were in a position where people were doing things to them instead of them taking an active role in their rehabilitation process. They wanted people to fix them. They kind of, you know, became depressed and anxious and they couldn't find those different ways to create goals, to make it happen. And that's been, you know, there's one thing to have a sport goal and to go after it. But when I was sitting bedside with these folks

and they were telling me about how they were going to go after their goals and how determined and committed they were, it's just living evidence that we can achieve the impossible and, you know, just not giving up. And going after what we think is unattainable is attainable with, with our, you know, tenacity. Yeah. And in terms of, you know, how does that help you as a pro Ironman in terms of, you know, just staying, keeping hope alive and keep on going after your dreams despite, you know, whatever might happen or obstacles that

you face? I think the sport of triathlon is so interesting because there's a lot of dimensions to it. You know, there's a swim and then there's a bike and there's a run. And I come from the running background and that's the easy part for me., my big, um, kind of Achilles heel would be the swim as I just learned how to swim five, six years ago. Um, and so that has been a process where I've had to continually search, continually learn. And sometimes there are barriers. There are, you know, um, things that come up that I really have to push through and I have to find a way to win. And, again, that goes back to my team that I have on board and that I've selected.

I feel like my team is there to push me and to help me understand that swim. And so it's something that kind of I wish would come more naturally, but I know it's part of this process, and it has made me such a stronger person and a more resilient athlete to have kind of that Achilles heel and really tackle it every day. And do it despite maybe that you don't want to or that it doesn't feel that comfortable or natural to you. You know, one of the things, Ruth, that you mentioned is about your master's thesis and self-talk between, you know, those that were experienced marathoners versus those that weren't. What did you learn from, you know, your study? And you kind of said that

you learned to kind of shut your mind off. Can you tell us about that? Sure. Well, it's been a long time. Actually, it was just published recently, so I should know a little bit. It should be a little more fresh. But what we tend to see with elite and non-elite athletes is that elites are much more in touch with their body sensations. They use a strategy called association where they're constantly monitoring their respiration, their muscular tension, their cadence. They kind of do these body scans from head to toe. They always know what their body is feeling like. And also they get into kind of a rhythmic cadence where it becomes musical. It becomes part of their experience. Whereas non-elites tend to use something called dissociation when they're going through a painful period where they try to push through using strategies of

counting, of trying to distract their mind, of trying to maybe set a goal to the next light post of setting mini goals. But they tend to not be as in touch with their body awareness as elites are. So how does that help you, Ruth? Do you choose to use the associative perspective or strategies when you're competing? Yeah, it's a very interesting kind of spiritual experience when I'm running because I get out of the swim and I'm far behind. And then I catch up a little bit on the bike and then I just gun it on the run. And so what I'm, I'm constantly thinking about that next runner that I need to catch and my place. But my mind really shuts off to any kind of pain that I'm experiencing. But I'm in touch with how my respiration in particular,

and my, and my cadence. So I'm, I'm always, you know, trying to conserve energy and trying to be as relaxed as possible, my shoulders down, I kind of have verbal cues to myself, you know, relax your hands, relax even your face. I mean, everything adds to energy expenditure by the end of the race. And so my mind shuts off in terms of kind of experiencing pain. And I push on just as hard as I can go thinking about the next runner in front of me. So I'm guessing that people are going to be listening thinking, okay, how can I shut my mind off to pain? Do you have any strategies that you've used? Yeah, mindfulness is kind of the hot topic right now, you know, mindfulness and meditation.

And I think that my training in going back to your previous question, my training in counseling psychology, that was such a huge thing working with people with personality disorders and borderline personality in particular. You know, I taught my own patients mindfulness, and I didn't ever think about using mindfulness when I was playing soccer or even distance running before my doctorate. But mindfulness helps me every day in training and every day when I'm with my kids and when I'm racing as well. It helps me stay in the moment, and it's a skill that

some people think, oh, it's too complicated. But if it's too complicated, they're not doing it right. It really is making sure that you're embracing all the five senses and trying to really be aware of the present moment, kind of in a nonjudgmental stance and not judging your thoughts or not judging your emotions or how you should or shouldn't feel. You just are living how you are and allowing that to happen. That is tremendously helpful. And I like the non-judgmental part because I think so many times we can be our own worst judge and beat ourselves up. But really, you know, it's about noticing what's going on and working to stay in the present. You know, you get to compete against just so many elite competitors.

What do you really see separates the world's best from those that don't perform as well? What do you think separates them mentally? I think that we have a lot in common and we've, we know how to work hard. We have routine. We have determination and consistency and we're constantly in a do mode. Instead of thinking, you know, oh, should I consider going to the pool? It's not even an option. You just do it. And, you know, whether we want to train or not, we stay in the do mode and we stay self-disciplined.

And we do that very well. I think what separates those who don't burn out is this sense of purpose. They know why they do what they do. They have a full commitment, a full focus, a full trust in their training plan, and they keep their purpose-driven goals alive. They know why they're doing what they're doing. If something comes up, if they don't perform well, their resiliency carries them through because they go back to that foundation, that purpose that keeps them going. Yeah, you know, one of the things we really believe with the high-performance mindset is keeping your why front and center

is absolutely important. So what's your why, Ruth? Like I said before, I think my faith and my family are just number one, you know, making sure that I'm using my gifts and my talents in an honoring way and being just very grateful for those on a daily basis. It's very easy to fall away from that. And I think that I also understand as a mom, I have a huge responsibility to my family, to my kids for being a role model for them. They are going to, you know, actions speak much louder than words, as we know. And so they know how to

set goals or they are learning from me how to set goals and how to get through difficult times. I think that's a big motivator to just stay well focused and keep me balanced and real. You know, one of the things I think that's really important from a mindset perspective is that when we fail, we realize that we can learn something from it. So can you tell us about a story that, you know, a time that you failed and what you learned from it, Ruth? In general, I have a hard time associating with the term failure. Not that I haven't failed, but I think it's such a permanent word. And I kind of reframe that to disappointments. But failures are such a rich part of our life story.

And I mean, we hate them when they happen. We hate disappointments when they happen, but they really do make our lives rich. The failure would come if a person failed to follow their dreams, if they didn't get back up, if they didn't surround themselves with a strong support system that was helping them along the way, and then they end up winning a gold medal at the Olympics but are so lonely. I see that as a failure because the rest of your life is totally unidimensional. That sounds awesome. I like your perspective, in terms of kind of reframing

failure to disappointment. What about can you share with us a time where maybe that was disappointing to you that, you know, it didn't go so well. And you know, something that you learned from it that maybe was part of your life story that really helped fuel you? Oh, for sure. Yeah. I would say that my biggest disappointment would be last year at the 2015 Ironman World Championship race in Kona, Hawaii. The race fell on my 40th birthday, and it was a day that my coach and I had been planning for two years as the qualification for that race for professional females is particularly difficult.

And so it was a two-year process where I qualified to race among 35 of the world's best pro females. And it was from really the gun going off to the very end. It was the very worst performance I've ever put in on any given sporting day ever in my life. I think the elements and the conditions of the race were very difficult, but there were just many things that came up that really ended up in a disastrous race. So I learned so much from that race because it, you know, it was like third to last place. There was a 40% attrition rate among the pro females and it took every morsel of my mind, body and spirit to get through that race. And so when I say it was the most disappointing,

it was also the best race of my life for so many reasons. What suffering is during a race? And learned about myself and my own perseverance in a different way. I'm almost sorry that my kids had to witness that, but there was not an option whether I was going to finish the race. I knew that I wasn't going to win any prize money. I knew that I wasn't going to impress any sponsors, but to have your foundation so solid is necessary for a race like that. It would have been so easy to just drop out and say, oh, it wasn't my day. But I think that the foundation

was too strong for me to even consider that as an option. I have a good friend, Ruth, who was competing that day and it was her first Kona. So I run with her quite often. And it was, if I remember right, it was really hot and windy and just like miserable weather in Kona. So, you know, tell us what kept you going? Like, why did you not quit in that race, even though, you know, you were suffering? Like I said, the pro females, there were many reasons. The pro females, it takes a lot to even toe the line. And I knew that there are some gender inequities that within the sport of triathlon, we don't have as many participants

on that towing the line as the male pros. And so, number one, I thought of those people who, the 15 women who should have been on the line who would die for a spot and who deserve to be there. And that kept me going. My faith kept me going. My family kept me going. I had 20 supporters there who flew to Kona in order to celebrate my 40th birthday with me. They did not care if I was last place. They did not care. My brother was there. My parents were there. It was a magical day. It was like a miserable day within a magical day. I tried everything in my power to, to make it through that marathon. It was a two, I was like a three 40 or three 36 marathon, which is incredibly slow for what my, I wanted to run a sub three marathon in that, in that race. And I knew it was going to be slow and I knew it was going to be

terrible, but it's, it's hard to know hard to know. When I look back at that race, I kind of view myself in an aerial view, like from a helicopter. It's hard to even kind of go back there. It's kind of like childbirth. You remember that was very painful, but you can't really get back there. So it's hard for me to even articulate what it was internally that kept me going. But I go back to my purpose, that solid foundation. And I love what you said about how it was one of the worst performances for you, but it was one of the best races of your life. And I think that tells us a lot about your perspective. One of the reasons that you are so good and you can continue to compete at this high level is because you're really seeing, you know,

this difficulty as a gift and how it was one of the best days of your life because you learned so much about suffering and getting through. Pretty awesome, Ruth. Thank you. Thank you. Tell us about an aha moment that you've had in your career and how it can help us learn something? I think just having the insight that difficulties and roadblocks are designed within our plan. You know, they're designed to be there in our plan, and they can really boost us further than setting us back would. They make us stronger athletes and stronger people as a whole. Learning to become grateful

for tough times, just like the good times. I mean, if we, a lot of people bank all of their happiness on a good performance. And I think that they can really get into a rut of this isn't fun anymore. I'm not enjoying myself. I'm not growing. But those are, you know, those are the times where we grow the most, those times of failure. So you have to be grateful for those opportunities too and use them in the right way. Absolutely. So how have you rebounded from the Kona race and how have you seen that as something that you're grateful for that's allowing you to continue to compete at this high level? The race has given me more hunger than I think I've that I've ever had. It has reframed things a little bit for me. It has made me realize that I have a lot of a lot of fight in me,

probably a lot more than I thought that I did. And that translates to everyday training, you know, the tough swims, the tough bikes, and realizing just how much I can push myself through discomfort is really, you know, a good thing to know about yourself. Absolutely. And I find that with a lot of other like elite athletes is, you know, that they're using these difficulties as really like to keep them excited and hungry. And so I love that it's helping you, right? And being grateful for those difficulties. I love what you're saying about that. So Ruth, how about let's go to the list of the top 10 traits of high performers. Can you tell us which of those that you think that you

exhibit the most? I would say purpose. Number one is purpose, is keeping that alive. And that's something that sometimes I struggle with, but I know has to take priority. Yeah, I can hear that just from our interview. We've talked quite a bit about purpose and how you keep that alive. Which one of those do you see yourself still working on? And I ask that question is just, you know, that we're all a work in progress. And it's pretty hard for us to, you know, be 100% in all of these areas mentally. Oh, gosh, ideally, yes, it would be great to be 100% in all of them. But I would say, and I would think that my coach would say being more self compassionate, you know, he's, he says, paying the same mind to myself that that I do to others, you know, he says, you know, not more mind, just the same mind,

the same warmth and the same care to myself as I give to my family and give to my patients when I'm working with them. And how have you worked to do that? Because I agree that, you know, a lot of high performers just aren't necessarily always very self-compassionate, that we tend to beat ourselves up. We don't treat ourselves like we do other people. So is there one or two things you've been doing to continue to try to be self-compassionate? I think practicing what I preach a little bit with my kids, and I try to continually tell them that mom is not perfect, and that I make mistakes, and then to own that and to show them that, you know, to talk to them about things that I do wrong

and just kind of admitting your failures and admitting your mistakes and is much better than trying to fake your way through and pretend like you're someone that you're not. So, you know, Ruth, we just talked about a time that you failed, but before we kind of wrap it up, can you tell us about a time that was your highlight of your career? Is there anything that really stands out to you as the best experience you've had so far?

I would have to say that my win at the Half Ironman in 2014, Kansas 70.3, was my, my, uh, triathlon career highlight, you know, winning with my sister there. And my, my daughter was also there. We took a road trip down and I just did really well against some very good competitors. Um, it was just one of those days where it was a flawless day and I was just very much in, you know, the flow experience and not didn't need to push myself. It just kind of everything fell into place. It's a good example of how when we try to push too hard or try to create things that aren't there, don't work. But if you let the process unfold the way that it needs to and you have the right build-up plan going into it, those are the times where you're going to have a good experience or peak performance. Absolutely.

All right, so let's wrap it up, Ruth, and let's go to the speed round. So if you could just as quickly as you think about this, give us your answer. So if you could recommend a book or maybe a resource, or is there anything that you listen to or you use to stay fueled? I would say any resource or research on mindfulness in sports and life. Is there any one particular that you would recommend? In general, they all have the same orientation. I really like Eckhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now. That's really good. Yeah, I love that book. But anything,

learn about how to control your mind before your mind controls you is really key. Nice, nice. What's one word that people describe you as? Grounded. I agree. Just from our conversation, I can tell. What's the best advice you've ever received? A recent one would be you have to believe it before you see it. You have to throw your heart over the bar first. My coach, you know, has been helping me with this and trying, as he relates to thinking about me as a swimmer. And he said, you have to see yourself as a swimmer in the same way I see myself as a runner, kind of with the same pride, the same identity. And that inner transformation has to happen first, and the body will follow.

So you have to see yourself as a quality swimmer or an elite swimmer just like you do as an elite runner. Love it. Can you think of a success quote or a phrase that you live by and how it might apply to us? What I really like and I think about a lot during races is Corinthians 9.24. And that's, in a race, all the runners run, but only one gets the prize run in such a way as to win the prize. And that's a quote for life, for sports, for anything, you know, live your life in the way that you want to achieve your goals and the way that is God honoring. And it's all about the process. You know, if you're not focused on how to get there, you can't get there. Excellent. To wrap us up, Ruth, can you think of any advice for those high

performers listening? What advice would you like to give us in sport or in life that could apply to anything that we do? Along the same lines of what we've been talking about, keeping that purpose alive, doing what it takes every day to keep it intact. It'll motivate you to get up in the morning. It'll allow you to be grateful for what you have, the opportunities before you, help you fight during races and during hard workouts, and everything else will fall into place the way that it needs to. So, Ruth, how could we follow you or connect with you if we'd like to? You could follow me.

My website is ruthbrennanMorrie.com or my Twitter handle is rBrennanMorrie. Awesome. And I would encourage those who are listening to reach out to us on Twitter. You can reach out to Ruth. Tell us your Twitter name again. rBrennanMorrie. rBrennanMorrie. And you can tag myself mentally underscore strong. We'd love to hear what stood out to you about this interview and what you're taking away from today. So, Ruth, is there anything that you would like to tell us about? Do you want to talk about your sponsors or anything like that? Sure.

They have been amazing. My local sponsors are the Rochester Athletic Club, who, you know, have been just so fabulous. Active PT, my people who keep me injury-free, Rochester Cycling and Fitness, keep my bike needs up to date and keep me on the roads. And also Terraloco, who is my running and apparel store. They have been just amazing as well. Louis Garnet and Head Cycling Wheels, and also Ali's Bar, who have the most delicious sweet potato nutrition bar. Nice. You have a lot of people supporting you, which just shows you that it takes a team. You know, kind of going back to what you said earlier about surrounding yourself with positive people.

Yeah. Ruth, there's so many things that I took away from your interview. And I'd like to just mention just what the things that stood out to me. I loved our discussion about Kona and how you said it was, you know, your worst performance, but it was one of the best races of your life. And because it taught you how you could get through anything and what really suffering is. And I love your discussion about being grateful for even the difficulties, you know, that your difficulties and your roadblocks are designed as part of your plan and part of your story that just being really present in the moment, allows you to compete at a high level, but also be present with your kids and be a strong mother.

And I love what you're saying about how you use association. So association versus disassociation and how mindfulness helps you do that. And then, of course, we've talked a lot about purpose, keeping your purpose front and center. And I can tell that you do that to stay fueled and to stay passionate about what you do. So I really want to thank you for your time to impact the listeners and give them some strategies that they can use in sport and in life. And I appreciate your time. And what do you got next on your plan so that we can cheer you on as you go forward with your goals? Thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate it. I'm humbled by the opportunity. My next race is Chattanooga, half Ironman, May 22nd. And then my major event for this year will be Ironman Wisconsin. Awesome. What's the date on that?

September 10th, I believe. September 10th. I think I will be at Chattanooga, so I will be cheering you on. I will not be competing, but cheering my husband on. He does some half Ironman, and I have some good friends who do fulls. Oh, good. We'll have to connect and chat. Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time Ruth great thanks thank you for listening to high performance mindset are you signed up for syndra's weekly email with free mental tools and strategies for high performance why the heck not