I heard that Lance Armstrong was in Italy recently, scoping out some stages for this year’s Giro d’Italia. Doing reconnaissance of a course is a great way to get familiar with the race, not only to plan your strategy and tactics, but also to visualize the race and imagine your performance.

Using imagery to mentally rehearse a race is a powerful and effective mental skill. The more vivid your imagery, the more effective it is. You can make your imagery more vivid by visiting the course before the race. Even better, take your camera along and take a few snapshots along the way. Put the pictures on your refrigerator or make them a screen saver on your computer. The more you look at them, the more vividly you’ll be able to imagine yourself performing at your best in the race.