I have always believed that good humans make better athletes. How do I know that Mark Carbone is an encouraging coach, inspiring elite athlete and all around good human?
It’s not because Mark is an IRONMAN World Championship finisher with almost 30 years of experience as a competitive athlete and coach. It’s also not because he has supported, challenged, motivated, paced and instructed hundreds of adults and young athletes.
“Look in the mirror. No blinking.
Really Look in the eyes.
Invincible.
Close your eyes. 3 deep breaths.
Invincible.
There is no TRY. Only DO.”
-Mark Carbone
I know because the quote above is not just a sound bite Mark gave in an interview or thoughts from a blog post he wrote. That is a quote directly from Mark to me before I completed my fifth half marathon.
Mark has guided me, my husband and even our two young kids through everything from fun runs to 5Ks to half/full marathons and even 50K Ultra-marathons for about a decade now. He is our own personal running Yoda.
Mark and I sat down recently to talk about his overall mental approach to his training, competitions, his coaching and what inspires him.
How listening prevents injury and aids in success
A common theme throughout our conversation was the importance of listening. It’s an impactful skill for parents/coaches to impart to our players:
- Listening to your coaches – hearing WHAT a coach is saying without focusing as much on HOW they are saying it. Detach from the emotion or coaching style to understand the root of what is being communicated.
- Listening to your mind – developing mental toughness and resilience through self talk. What are you saying to yourself? Embrace the power of self talk and visualization.
- Listening to your body – being aware of internal and external distractions preventing you from learning the signals your body is sending. Developing self awareness, consistency and routine are major factors in success and injury prevention.
- Listening to your breath – focusing on controlled belly breathing that clears everything. Just like other parts of the body, the diaphragm is a muscle that needs to be trained.
- Listening to your team – engaging a network of supporters there to provide you physical and emotional support as you train and compete.
- Listening to your faith – practicing self actualization and tapping into faith as a key to figuring out the world.
Mastering efficiency and harnessing the power of experience
Like many athletes, routine and preparation are major tools for Mark’s success.
- Efficiency: “Less is more. Efficiency equals a stronger mind.” Mark finds being efficient in his training and competing aids in being bio-metrically fit to help with injury prevention.
- Routine: Mark has imparted the value of routine in every part of his approach from training runs, to race week rituals, even his evening routines of reflecting to examine his day. The consistency developed in maintaining routines results in stronger performance overall.
- Tracking: An important part of Mark’s routine is the journals he keeps of his training and competitions. Training logs serve as data points for tracking his wellness, growth and development.
- Analyzing: Understanding the obstacles that are impacting performance strengthens the experience. For Mark, “It’s not about how many times you get knocked down, it’s about learning WHAT is knocking you down!”
Navigating the “Dark Spots” and utilizing self talk
In life and in competitive sports, there are moments when your confidence is in question.
As Mark trains, he uses a great deal of self talk to help him “recognize the dark spots and be able to tune-in and know yourself. You get comfortable with the dark spots and learn to redirect. It’s being able to rebound…being able to cope. You experience it again and conquer another boundary. Know you’re in this calm. You’re here. Execute your game plan.”
A few key elements that have helped him:
- Having a mantra
- Being clear on what to get out of an experience
- Learn yourself, listen to yourself and your body
- Reaffirmations to understand why you’re there
- Remembering it’s temporary
- Helps to see everyone else out there going through something too. Keeping in mind everyone has their dark spots challenging them, you may realize you don’t have it so bad.
In life, it’s all about people. Who is your support “team”?
TEAM MC came together about 10 years ago. Mark attributes the best performances of his life to the last decade with TEAM MC supporting him. These have been the best years racing and competing because of who he shares it with.
“TEAMMC is a selected group of people who have an influence in my development as a person physically, emotionally, and spiritually. They each have qualities that enhance the ability of people to learn and appreciate every aspect of life. Due to their support I am able to continue racing across the country encouraging fitness and wellness to the youth within my community.”
Heading up TEAM MC is the unconditional love of Mark’s wife, Gina, AKA “The Iron Sherpa”. Gina has traveled across the country and all over the world to support and share in Mark’s achievements. The rest of TEAM MC is Mark’s network of family, friends, coworkers and partners. His network provides every little bit of physical and emotional support, and sometimes even generously provides airline miles for his trips.
Mark has been known to give his race medals away to those who supported his journey as a token of his gratitude. Mark is incredibly grateful for his network and it is about “realizing the people I was encountering in my daily life were making contributions to my success.”
The importance of building the right “team”
Obviously there is a great deal of support from TEAM MC. In life overall, Mark talked about being aware of the role others serve to better understand how people function in your life and if they help you move forward. Mark says there are four kinds of people in your life. Those who… add, subtract, multiply or divide.
It’s clear to anyone who meets Mark that he practices what he preaches. Mark has been on the world stage, finishing IRONMAN competitions in Hawaii, Australia and Japan (to name a few) and achieved what he needed to achieve. Now it’s about giving back. Mark adds value to the lives of anyone he encounters with his helpful advice, coaching or training. He is not just our personal running Yoda – Mark certainly multiplies the positivity and motivational belief someone has inside!
Connect with Mark on Twitter at @teammc1
In addition to coaching adult runners/triathletes, Mark also has coached youth athletes for many years with Let Me Run, as well as serving as a coach and ref for youth basketball.
Mark’s background includes a degree in Exercise Science from Hunter College, working in the fields of physical therapy, strength/conditioning, and rehabilitation.
Mark has served as a sponsored athlete and brand ambassador for products like Wheaties, Aquaphor, Polar Heart Monitors, Odwalla, AAA and Rita’s Ices.
– Danielle Mintz, Founder of Player EQ