About

I am a lifelong athlete and grew up in Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada. Running the 1500m on the track was my main thing until I graduated from the University of Washington, and injured my achilles while training for the World Cross-Country Championships. My brother Geoff suggested I give mountain biking a try. Though beaten and bruised by the steep learning curve I was hooked and raced seriously at the Elite level for five years before changing my racing focus to Xterra Triathlons in 2005.

I took 2007 off to have my daughter Zoe, and part of 2010 off to have my son, Nico. I continued to train and compete in Xterra triathlons (as well as select mountain bike and road triathlon events) as a member of the LUNA Pro team from 2008 until 2015 when I retired from racing.

I have also been a lifelong learner. I read psychology books for fun when I was younger, and went on to study Psychology in university. Then I combined it with my other passion, sports, and completed my doctorate in Sport Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2007. My lab studied motivation and I had fun researching the relationship between coach communication and athlete motivation. I am a Mental Performance Consultant with the Canadian Sport Psychology Association. Since 2004 I have enjoyed working as a mental performance consultant to many different athletes in various sports through the Canadian Sport Institute – Calgary and now back on the west coast through the Canadian Sport Institute – Pacific. I also have a small private practice as a Registered Clinical Counsellor where I currently live, in Victoria, B.C. , Canada.

12 thoughts on “About”

  1. hey Danelle, love your blog; came across via sari Anderson’s blog. I’m not a mum (yet) but love reading about how people transition from being somewhat “carefree” to being mums and still retaining that sense of self in continuing whatever drives them…keep up the great work!

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  2. HI Danelle, My wife and I read your blog regularly; you have been a wonderful source of information and inspiration. Emily is currently 7 months pregnant, and has just posted a blog about some of her experience and feelings. http://www.ssportsman.com/2011/10/riding-under-the-influence-of-baby

    She is far too introspective to talk to you, but if we are ever at the same event, I’ll convince her to introduce herself and say hi..I have far fewer inhibitions after races..

    thanks for the blog

    scott

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  4. Hey Danelle! I read the article in Triathlon where you and Dr. K.C. Wilder were featured. Really good work, and you were able to get a lot of the basics covered in a concise read. I’d love to meet you some time, and talk through the mental side of multi-sport. I might have some imagery tools that could help your athletes, too.

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      • Hi again, we have met at XTERRA Victoria for the clinic you put on. I enjoyed the entire weekend. You signed a jersey for me but we did not get a photo of that, maybe next time. I’m rooting for you in Ogden, have a great day and enjoy the race. See you at Jdf for winter swimming.

        Rob

      • Hi Rob,
        Thanks for the note and hope you had a good Xterra race in July and rest of your summer! And yes, see you at JDF sometime this winter for sure!
        Cheers,
        Danelle

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