Jennifer Vollmann is a triathlete, triathlon coach and mindset coach who has won an extreme triathlon and races at the Ironman distance, yet she did not consider herself an athlete until about age 29. A PE teacher once told her she was too feminine for sports. After leaving her career to stay home with her daughter, she felt she had lost her identity, found CrossFit and then triathlon, and discovered she was built for endurance. Her core lesson carries straight to the mats: first choose the discomfort, then relax into it instead of resisting, because "nothing's gone wrong."

Jennifer describes the 17-hour extreme triathlon she finished by never deciding in advance when it should end, the steep climbs at her Costa Rica cycling camps, and why the stretch after mile 18 of the Ironman marathon decides races. She explains nutrition as triathlon's fourth discipline, why she quiets her breathing and stays friendly when she passes rivals, and her rule that any feeling, good or bad, rarely lasts more than five minutes. The talk closes on borrowing belief: you only need one percent to start, and a coach can lend you the rest. Professor Lucas Rubbo recalls helping his father prepare for a Tour de France amateur ride.

In this episode

• 0:00 Welcome
• 2:05 Meet Jennifer Vollmann
• 4:11 Choosing discomfort and relaxing into it
• 6:16 Patience in a 17-hour race
• 9:28 Training the mind to stay present
• 12:38 Lucas's father and the Tour de France
• 15:53 Climbing steep grades in Costa Rica
• 21:23 Why marathon mile 18 is hardest
• 24:36 Nutrition, the fourth discipline
• 26:40 Competing without chasing rivals
• 29:56 Becoming an athlete at 29
• 35:16 Discovery or creation
• 41:48 Helping an athlete run faster
• 47:14 Borrowing someone else's belief

Watch on YouTube · Subscribe to The Jiu Jitsu Mindset