About this episode

Nickademus de la Rosa discusses his journey from ultrarunning success to mental performance coaching and the challenges of identity outside of sport.

Nickademus de la Rosa is no stranger to mountaintops, of both the literal and metaphorical variety. For much of the 2010s he was at the top of the ultrarunning world, rattling off podium appearances at some of the longest, toughest and most iconic events in the sport, and boasting a list of completions almost as long as the races themselves. Of all the highs, perhaps none was greater than his finish at the 2013 Barkley Marathons, a race often deemed the toughest in the world, with only 26 finishes in its 30+ year history. Yet, while a victory on one of the sport’s greatest stages brought the promise of a legacy cemented, it also served to further deepen an identity rooted in performance, one perpetuated by a constant striving for the next win. While de la Rosa's immense talent for the trails allowed him to dictate his own story for years, his performance-centric identity collapsed when an abrupt diagnosis and open-heart surgery forced him to retire from competition in 2017. What followed were years of soul-searching and grappling to rediscover a sense of self outside of sport. That journey ultimately led him to mental performance coaching, using his education in sport and…

People in this episode

Host: David Stol

Guest: Nickademus de la Rosa

Topics covered

• mental performance coaching
• ultrarunning
• identity
• self-worth
• Barkley Marathons
• athlete psychology

Keywords

• ultrarunning
• mental performance
• identity
• Barkley Marathons
• self-worth
• athlete
• performance psychology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Shakeout Podcast, Canadian Running Magazine

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