Your brain is the most powerful weapon on the planet. If you can use it to your advantage when the outcomes are not unfolding to what you'd hoped, then I believe you will make it out and become even stronger than you ever have been before. In sports, business, or anything you want to be the best at, I believe where your mindset is will be the deciding factor to your success. For a person who can control where their mind drifts to when they want to accomplish something and is driven to be at the top, it is not a matter of "if", but a matter of "when" they will succeed.

Competing for the University of Connecticut

Now as a coach at TWB, I think it is essential to relay to the runners I coach that the right mindset plays the lead role in reaching your goals and getting to where you want to be. I firmly believe my mindset and focus have got me this far, by applying them everywhere and to everything where I felt I needed to win. It is my philosophy not exclusively in coaching or competing but in everyday life as well. Looking back on everything where I’ve had to compete for something, even as simple as a board game with my family or a pick-up basketball game with my friends, I had to win. Every single time. And when I didn’t win, there was always something to reflect on. A mindset built around doing everything and anything to win or to succeed in the moment is what I can contribute most of my success as an athlete.

As many people may have heard, you cannot succeed or win without experiencing failure. I have learned time after time again, that you will fail prolifically more in life than you will succeed. And if that isn't the case for you, then I doubt you are pushing your limits, therefore it will be impossible to reach your full potential. To me, falling short of the goals you have made, or failing, is all a part of the big picture we are trying to paint. When injuries come about, or responsibilities get in the way, the mindset can shift and as a consequence, you easily give in to those limitations using them as excuses to let go of your dreams.

About a year ago I was on fire, winning elite races, posting NCAA qualifying times, setting conference records, and getting all the praise from my coaches, teammates, friends, and family. It does indeed feel exhilarating. Fast forward to December 2022, only four months into my professional career, in a flash, life stopped serving me that praise pudding and started kicking me in the teeth. I had torn my posterior tibial tendon and was out for six months.

Finishing in the top-10 at the 2022 US 5k Championship, just before a torn Posterior Tibial Tendon

What I had thought to be the worst thing that could have happened to me, surprisingly was not. I was able to reflect on all the pain and hassles that I was dealing with at the moment, getting through appointments that consisted of MRI, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection, cortisone shot, shockwave, and many acupuncture treatments with my chiropractor.

Even during those countless treatments and extensive days in rehab, my winning mindset kept bringing me back to reflection; what can I do better in training, what my weakness’ are as a competitor, and owning up to myself that there are things I need to do better going forward to prevent injuries that disrupt my racing season. Progress will materialize when you use that winning mindset to diagnose the issues resulting in finding new ways to improve for the next training block.

Having dealt with multiple season-ending setbacks, I am currently back running healthy again in June 2023. How I look at it going forward; the elite fitness where I was before my injury will come back as I train with my “need to win” mindset. But above all, I have evolved my mindset, while letting it operate in the duration of all the troubles and failures that came with being injured. Not to mention, the mountain of goals I had set out to climb has grown stupendously, yet I am more driven to get to the top.

I am eager to get back into my routine while healthy and to push my limits en route to reaching my top potential. As your coach, I am thrilled to share my mindset with you while together evolving to become better than we ever have and in time, win.

TWB Welcomes Coach Eric van der Els, sub-4 Miler and Professional Runner