For two years, since nearly breaking the 4 hour mark in a Half-Ironman in Japan, I've had an "anchor".

Not that heavy piece of metal you drop off the back of a boat. I'm talking about a mental anchor. Basically, it goes like this: when I'm in the middle of a race, I squeeze my thumb up against the inside of my hand, and this triggers my mind to shout this phrase "never gonna catch me".

Then I seem to just take off like a shot. I'm totally not kidding. It shuts down the pain, let's me focus, and causes me to tap into a quick burst of hidden energy. I developed this anchor during something called a neurolingustic programming session (also known as "NLP") that I recorded for a podcast just a few days before that race in Japan, and I released the podcast a few days later.

You can listen to it at "How To Rewire Your Brain and Body With Neurolinguistic Programming". But this simple programming technique still didn't tackle another important issue - the trouble that many athletes have getting to sleep at night before the big race.

After all, no matter how well wired you are to perform fantastically, you'll be miserable if you feel like you've just pulled an all-nighter!

So today I have good news: I've invited back on the podcast the guy who taught me that anchor and neurolinguistically "programmed" me.

His name is Andy Murphy, and in this episode, he's going to teach us exactly how to get to sleep at night before a big race or event.

During our podcast, you'll learn: -How to tap into your subconscious in a practical and easy-to-understand way... -How to instantly make your room more comfortable, even if it's a hotel room, tent or some other place you're not used to sleeping... -How to stop the "excitement" movie from playing in your head, and replace it with relaxation... -How to program your subconscious for deep sleep to feel calm and happy before your event... -And much more!

Do you have questions, comments or feedback about how to get to sleep at night before a big race, or your own tips to share? Leave your thoughts at BenGreenfieldFitness.com!