Will Murray

Explicit content warning

03/01/22 • 45 min

My guest today is Will Murray. Will is a ten-year USA Triathlon Level 1 coach with specialties in mental conditioning, youth coaching, and trauma treatment. He works with athletes in his coaching with D3 Multisport in Boulder, CO and he is a certified administrator of the Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories Protocol.
Will is co-author, with Craig Howie, of The Four Pillars of Triathlon: Vital Mental Skills for Endurance Athletes and Uncle: The Definitive Guide for Becoming the World’s Best Aunt or Uncle.
He is also a mentor in our community, a role model, and my friend.
We had a great time talking about sport and mental health and I think you're going to enjoy the conversation.
High fives all around. Let's do this!
Do you have a personal story that you'd like to share? Do you know of other athletes who are open to talking about their mental health and its relationship to sports? Send me a note at [email protected].
And if you're struggling right now, reach out to a loved one, training partner, coach, or doctor, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. You are not alone.
This episode was produced by Mark Still - [email protected] - @uphillstill - @thepracticalstill

Previous Episode

Michael Garfield Levine

I'm so thrilled to visit with my good friend, Michael Garfield Levine, and hear some of his stories, struggles, and triumphs in dealing with his mental health. We go back a long way and this was a good opportunity to hear how cycling played a role in his health and how he ultimately found the help he needed.
Michael Garfield Levine has appeared in numerous roles in classic American and Shakespearean theater, Off and Off-Off-Broadway, and commercials and voiceovers for television and radio. He's had roles in several movies, Law and Order, The Sopranos, and daytime dramas. He studied at The Neighborhood Playhouse with Sanford Meisner, Willaim Esper, and William Alderson. He was a founding member of Circle Repertory's Lab Workshop. Michael was a junior national ski racer and professional ski instructor. He has coached Ironman triathletes, bicycle racers, and actors. He has led workshops with his wife Nancy O'Hara for couples in relationships. He raced bicycles for 30 years competing among National Champions, Olympians, and Tour de France winners. He has ridden 24-hour cycling marathons, soloed across the US and Canada, the routes of The Tour de France; and numerous ultra-endurance cycling events and triathlons. Michael drove a taxi cab in New York City for five years and lived to tell about it. Recently, he taught creative writing and story-telling in a prison. Mr. Levine resides in The Hudson Valley where he writes and rides.

Michael Garfield Levine has written a one-man show, called Spinning My Wheels, a solo performance memoir chronicling his adventure of recovery on and off the bike.

In Spinning My Wheels, Michael, an angry-at-the-world actor, fights to escape the effects of the PTSD and mental illness handed down by his larger-than-life WW ll veteran father. Dogged by decades of crushing anxiety and suicidal depression, he desperately struggles to prove that he is as tough and heroic as his dad. He hits bottom after bottom but never gives up on his hope of achieving some semblance of sanity. Little by little he climbs out of his psychic descent through life-changing encounters with a Zen master, a Holocaust survivor, and a meditation teacher who becomes his wife. When he’s finally ready to face his father, Michael finds him slowly succumbing to Alzheimer’s. But it is here at his bedside that he finally discovers peace, and once and for all forgives both himself and his father.
High fives all around. Let's do this!
Do you have a personal story that you'd like to share? Do you know of other athletes who are open to talking about their mental health and its relationship to sports? Send me a note at [email protected].
And if you're struggling right now, reach out to a loved one, training partner, coach, or doctor, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. You are not alone.
This episode was produced by Mark Still - [email protected] - @uphillstill - @thepracticalstill

Next Episode

Melody Fairchild - Oregon Ducks Hall of Fame Runner and Boulder Mountain Warriors Director

Welcome to the Mental Healthlete podcast. My guest this week is Melody Fairchild. If you're into running, there is a good chance you've heard of Melody. She's arguably the best high school distance runner in US history.
She was the first high school girl to break 10 minutes for 2 miles. She was the NCAA indoor 3000-meter champ while running at Oregon (go ducks) and she's a University of Oregon Hall of Famer - AS SHE SAYS, not because she was the best but because she persisted. Love it.
She kept running after college turning pro and winning medals in world championships AND for the last 11 years, she's directed Boulder Mountain Warriors - a running club for kids.
I've known Melody for nearly a decade and she's one of my favorite people. We had a great talk that I'm so happy to share with you in this episode.
I learned about 'becoming' from Melody. If you've read the Velveteen Rabbit, you'll already know the concept. I hadn't but now I'll never forget it.
Now, here's my conversation with Melody Fairchild.
High fives all around. Let's do this!
Do you have a personal story that you'd like to share? Do you know of other athletes who are open to talking about their mental health and its relationship to sports? Send me a note at [email protected].
And if you're struggling right now, reach out to a loved one, training partner, coach, or doctor, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. You are not alone.
This episode was produced by Mark Still - [email protected] - @uphillstill - @thepracticalstill