Athlete Insight Heads to Boulder!

For Immediate Release:

Effective July 1, 2014, Dr. Kate Bennett will see clients on a part-time basis in Boulder in addition to her regularly scheduled hours in the Denver Tech Center.

The new Boulder office is located at:
2935 Baseline Road, Suite 302
Boulder, CO 80303

If this is the opportunity that you have been waiting for, contact Athlete Insight today. Availability is limited.

Image courtesy of www.paulselig.com

Gratitude in the Midst of Sorrow

By Kate Bennett, PsyD

Tuesday evening, tragedy fell upon the Colorado Springs Velodrome. A venue beloved by many athletes, the track quickly became a space filled with sorrow as a life was lost in the matter of minutes. While I did not know Vic personally, I would say that I had a close relationship with his rear wheel. When I raced with the men, he was a rider that I could count on to be steady, thoughtful, and determined. He was a safe wheel to draft off of. His presence on the infield seemed quite similar, peaceful but focused and determined. I shared that oval of banked cement with Vic for several years and will always respect his quiet tenacity. In the wake of his passing, I ask two things of you:

1. Lift Vic’s family and friends up in your hearts, thoughts, and prayers. I am certain their sorrow penetrates deeper than we could ever imagine.

2. Use this weekend to reflect on what you are grateful for rather than focus on what you are dissatisfied with. Take a moment to think about the people that offer you joy, support, and comfort. Identify all of the wonderfully miraculous things about your body that create strength and stamina to pursue your goals. Consider the simple pleasures that you frequently take for granted in the midst of the daily grind.

As I power down for the weekend, I am grateful for my husband, our awesome rescue dog, our families and friends, my health, the Rocky mountains and Colorado blue skies, Pandora, homemade pizza, gelato, physical and mental strength to train for a marathon, rest days on weekends, the peace and stillness of our neighborhood late at night and early in the morning, the opportunity to do what I love as a living…and so much more.

I am also grateful that I had the fortunate opportunity to ride and race with a man named Vic.

What are you grateful for?

Image courtesy of positiveparentingconnection.net

Who Are You? Know Yourself Beyond your Athleticism

By Kate Bennett, PsyD

I recently came across Brad Ludden’s interview “Every Athlete Dies Two Deaths.” A short film with a great message: Identify why sport makes you happy and find other ways to plug into that passion outside of sport. For Brad, it is adventure. He needs adventure in his life to feel fulfilled and found numerous other outlets for that desire as his professional kayaking career came to a close. While Brad’s title went from professional to former professional athlete, his sense of self remained strong.

What is it about sport that makes you thrive? How does sport bring you alive? Certainly, athletes are competitive by nature and likely have some drive to win. However, simply wanting to win does not counterbalance the sacrifice it takes to be your best in sport. Athleticism becomes a part of your identity because it satisfies a need and, hopefully, coincides with your personal values.

Knowing yourself and why you participate in sport, knowing what makes you show up on the hardest of training days, is a crucial element of developing a healthy athletic identity. Because, one day when your time in sport at the highest level is over, knowing who you are as a person and your core values will be critical in transitioning out of sport gracefully.

Athletes who leave competition successfully, who create new lives beyond their prime, have a healthy sense of self. They find new avenues for supporting their core values and engaging in their passions. These individuals may continue to be involved in sport but are comfortable in different roles (i.e. being a coach, physiotherapist, media relations manager, mechanic, team director, etc.).

Identifying as an athlete is fantastic: It serves as a solid foundation for healthy identity development and empowerment. The question becomes, when your athleticism fades and the days draw near to the end of your career, who are you then? Get to know yourself as a person. Develop athletic goals that support your personal values. Understand how you integrate your values into sport. How are they reflected in your athleticism?

While every athlete may die two deaths, that first death has the potential to be a graceful transition versus a depressing episode. Know who you are as an athlete and a person. Explore what makes you happy and be curious about your passion in sport. Awareness allows you to develop a strong sense of self, a healthy identity, and most importantly, a happy life.   

Ask yourself: When that “first death” arrives (because it inevitably will), who will I become? And, more importantly, what else will satisfy me? What do I have to look forward to?

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Note: In addition to Brad’s passion for adventure, he is also a strong advocate for young adult cancer survivors and founded First Descents, a fantastic resource for young people reinventing their lives as cancer survivors.