There are 3 factors that play a part in your athletic success.
Two physiological factors that have a role are your overall aerobic fitness and your resistance to fatigue.
The third factor is pyschological. Mental toughness.
No matter whether you're running a 5k, 10k, half-marathon or full marathon, there will be a moment when you'll encounter some mental battles.
Can I really finish? I'm out of energy. Why on earth I doing this!?
The good news is all these mental battles can be beaten.
I'm a firm believer that your body can do extraordinary things, and it's simply your mind that you need to convince.
So, in this post I'd like to share a few tricks I've picked up over the years.
As always, these are just my personal tricks and by no means an all-inclusive list! I hope you find them useful and then will serve you well in your future mental battles!!
Let's crack on!
REFLECT ON YOUR TRAINING
When things get tough, think back to all those hard training runs you did, when you had to dig deep and push through.
Tell yourself that what you're doing now is why you put yourself through the pain of training.
Pushing the limits in your training can also help you to build up your mental strength before your race.
USE THE FAMOUS COUNTING TECHNIQUE
This is a strategy which was used by the legendary Paula Radcliffe.
Radcliffe, who holds the women's world marathon record says she counts to 100 in order to breakthrough the mental barrier.
"That technique fit really well in that three times 100 would be roughly a mile. So I could break down the mile even further. It keeps me in the moment. Focusing only on what number came next. Not projecting ahead how far I had to run or if something wasn’t feeling good. It was something to focus on."
I've used this technique myself on many occasions and it definitely helps to distract your mind and trick it into forgetting the pain you're experiencing!
POSITIVE VISUALISATION
You may have read about practicing this technique in other aspects of life.
Maybe you're going for a job interview and you visualize yourself giving the interviewer some incredible answers in a completely confident manner.
Or perhaps you've got a big presentation, so you picture yourself standing on stage with a captive audience who are listening to your every word.
It can also be successfully applied to your races.
Picture yourself achieving the goal that you've set yourself. If your goal is to finish the race without walking, visualize that. If you've set yourself a target time, imagine crossing the finish line and smashing it!
Try to imagine the feeling you'll have at the end of the race and make it happen.
If you see yourself doing, you will do it!
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
A side product of positive visualization is having the belief in yourself that you can do it.
Both reflecting on your training and using positive visualization will help you to believe that you CAN do it. Know you can do it. Keep telling yourself, I can do it, I can do it
HAVE A MANTRA AND REMEMBER YOUR WHY
Lionel Sanders and 's Paula Radcliffe both have the mantra of "NO LIMITS".
UK marathoner Ben Parkes has the mantra "Getting it Done".
The mantra I love to use comes from the lead character in my favourite TV show, Only Fools and Horses. Derek "Delboy" Trotter had the mantra, "He Who Dares, Wins."
I love it because it pushes me to be daring and try something new or difficult. It takes courage to push through the uncertainty and difficulties, but daring to try is the only path to triumph!
What's more, try to remember WHY you're doing this.
BREAK IT DOWN
The final tip is to break the race down into smaller sections.
Before the race begins, you may find it helpful to split the race into chunks.
For example, if you're doing a 10k then break it down into 2 x 5k, or if you're doing a half-marathon then you could break it down into a 5k + 10k + 5k.
During the race you might try and break down the distance remaining into kilometres, which can shift you mind away from the big picture.
Or something I;ve done when I'm really battling is to just aim for the next landmark I can see such as a lamppost or a tree. Once you reach that one, pick another in the distance and head for that.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It's likely that at some point you're going to need to oush through the mental barrier.
Just try and remember that's all it is. A mental barrier which can be knocked down.
Hopefully these tips will help you overcome those mental barriers and help you crush your next race!
And remember.... He Who Dares, Wins!!