Let's play mind games (during the race)

This post is targeted at runners who are newer to marathoning. Veterans can feel free to skip this post.

A favorite running quote:
"Once you're beat mentally, you might was well not even go to the starting line." -Todd Williams


It’s All In Your Head

You may hear someone say that running a marathon is 80% mental and 20% physical. I’m not sure of the exact percentages, but it is completely true that your mind is the limiting factor on your race-day performance. If you believe you can do it then you actually can do it. If you let that little negative voice in your head convince you that you really can’t do it, you are finished (the “it” in this case is an objectively achievable goal given your level of fitness and not a miracle. For example, “finish the marathon” vs. “run a 2 hour marathon”).

Two years ago I was in a 50-mile ultramarathon and I was about half-way through the course. I was very tired but kept on chugging away, one step at a time. I came upon a teammate. His head was down and his stride was shuffling and short. I walked next to him and asked him how he was. “I’m tired” he said. “Well, let’s jog a moment together and maybe you’ll feel better. What do you say, jog to that tree up there?” Without looking up he said “I can’t, I’m done.” He had trained more than I did and was in better shape than I was. And he really was done, too, the moment he believed that he could not.


A Mantra is a Saying that Says It All

That year I had hardly trained at all for the race due to various injuries (dropped a minivan bench seat on my foot) and work commitments. I had completed this race three times before and I was sure I could complete it this time if I just kept at it. I chose a mantra for the race based on The Little Engine That Could. You might remember this classic children’s book where the little blue engine chugs up the mountain hauling a heavy load and saves the day by saying “I think I can, I think I can”. And that was my mantra for the race. At the first inkling of a negative thought, I said to myself “I think I can, I think I can” and began jogging along. It turns out that “I think I can, I think I can” will get you pretty far, I finished within the time limit.

A mantra can help you to focus your mind. It can be any saying that sticks in your mind and will help you to move forward. Runner’s World has an article on the topic http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267--11776-0,00.html with Todd Utz’s mantra: “chug-a-lug” and Sarah Reinertsen’s mantra: "show them that you're tougher than the rest".


Mind Games

The little negative voice in your mind will want you to stop. It will say “I am tired” or “this is too hard” or it may get personal: “I never should have signed up for this in the first place” and worse. Here are some mind games I have found that work to subdue that little negative voice when you are really very tired.
1. Pass the next runner. If you are competitive, passing the runner immediately ahead of you can be a big emotional boost and keep you moving forward. It is one more person who will finish with a slower time than you. Many times I have found myself battling with another exhausted runner as we each try to get and stay ahead of the other. It can be very gratifying to feel that you have won this mini-race. Do a victory woo-hoo! Then shift your focus to the next runner.
2. Submit to the clock. If you have an interval timer on your sports watch, set the timer to a run-walk interval of 1 min run:1 min walk (assuming you are exhausted and walking), and then just become a slave to it. The clock beeps “go”, you go; the clock beeps “walk”, you walk. Tell yourself that you must obey the clock, there is nothing else you can do. I’ve found this effective in situations where I was essentially alone on the course.
3. Start a conversation. Talking with someone else about anything at all gives many runners a second wind. Their spirits perk up and their energy returns and they feel much, much better (and it suggests that “exhausted” is, again, a state of mind). This is especially true if the person is a pacer or a race crew member, someone who isn’t just as tired as you are.
4. Pass the next landmark. Similar to Pass the next runner, this game involves trees, light posts, cars, bridges, anything at all that is close enough to be achievable but far enough ahead to be actual progress.
5. Start singing. It is amazing that singing to one’s self gets many runner’s minds off how they are feeling and enables them to continue to move forward. I’ve had people pass me by happily singing TV theme songs (The Brady Bunch), movie songs (The Sound of Music), religious hymns, Gregorian chants, and lots of other music. I think it just drowns out the negative voice.

So think positively and I'll see you at the race.