Episode 40: “Where Is My Mind? Flow State, Focus, and Interval Meditation”

About this episode

The episode explores achieving flow state through presence in training and racing, connecting meditation with performance.

Coaches and athletes talk about the semi-mythical “flow state” a lot, but there is precious little information about how to achieve flow state. Those same coaches and athletes seem to leave it up to chance, but as you all (I hope) know, hope is not a strategy! In today’s episode, which is the companion piece to the guided meditation just below this one in the feed, we talk about ways to practice presence in your training and racing, since all that flow state is is a state of heightened presence in the moment, when distractions and obstacles seem to fall away. If you read last week’s Substack post, you’ll see the connection here to getting away from thinking, because when we think we tend to make judgments, and if you are judging you are reflecting or ruminating, not present in the moment. The episode opens with a real athlete meltdown (the kind most of us have had at some point) to explore how perception and self-judgment are the first things standing between you and your best performance. From there, we make a connection between traditional meditation and the way you approach a hard interval — and explains why those two things are basically the same skill. You don't need an app…

People in this episode

Host: Campfire Endurance Coaching

Topics covered

• flow state
• focus
• meditation
• presence
• performance
• training

Keywords

• flow state
• meditation
• training
• focus
• performance
• presence
• self-judgment

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Getting Away from Bad

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• Episode 47: Justin Daerr on Intrinsic Motivation, Longevity vs. Performance, and Staying in the Game · June 4, 2026
• Episode 46: Fixing the Brick—Four Studies on Running Off the Bike · May 21, 2026 · 27 min
• Episode 45: Durability and Fatigue Resistance with Coaching Legend Joe Friel · May 7, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Episode 44: Triathlon Only Has Two Zones · April 23, 2026 · 50 min
• Episode 43: The Science of Sweat | How to Actually Fuel and Hydrate for Endurance with Tash Cooper-Smith · April 9, 2026 · 59 min
• Episode 42: Stress + Rest = Growth: A Guided Breathwork Session for Mental Toughness · March 27, 2026 · 30 min