Marshall, S., & Paterson, L. (2017). The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion. Boulder, CO: VeloPress.
Purchase the book here
Chuck and his wife Dana are going to have a discussion on the book The Brave Athlete by Simon Marshall and Leslie Paterson. Chuck explains that the book deals with how the brain answers unwanted thoughts and feelings and what you can do about those.
Dana shares her biggest takeaway and that is understanding her chimp, Elsa. Dana goes into the idea that the brain has three main parts, the chimp, the professor, and the computer. Chuck and Dana then go into Dana's power animal or race persona, Lagertha.
Chuck then begins talking about the second third of the book, the section on obstacles, setbacks, and conflict. Dana shares how she and her colleagues identify the conflict at work and how they have used the chimp idea to deconflict emotional conflict or rational conflict.
They then go further into a discussion about the three portions and how they interact. Noting that the chimp is more powerful than the professor and typically wins. Dana and Chuck then discuss how to get her out of her comfort zone for mass start track races using a technique in the book.
The two wrap up the discussion.

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The Watts Up Podcast is your go-to resource for all things cycling performance. Hosted by a dedicated coach, we dive deep into smart training strategies, strength development, and nutrition that fuels real results. Whether you're chasing watts or just want to ride stronger, this is where data meets discipline to help you train with purpose and perform at your best.
The Watts Up Podcast is your go-to resource for all things cycling performance. Hosted by a dedicated coach, we dive deep into smart training strategies, strength development, and nutrition that fuels real results. Whether you're chasing watts or just want to ride stronger, this is where data meets discipline to help you train with purpose and perform at your best.Listen on
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