Marathon Mentality

Marathon Mentality

A Metaphor for Life

Physical Strength will get you to the start line.

Mental Strength will get you to the finish line.

Motivation is a skill. It can be learned and practiced.
 - Amby Burfoot, winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon

• – Resilience

Given the nature of a marathon and exposure to various elements (e.g., behavior, emotion, thoughts, environment, weather) resilience is vital. Resilient runners are those that can cope with adversity and have a desire to complete the run. Resilience is about knowing what to do and how to pace your run. Resilient performers can also complete the marathon because they have the psychological ability to cope with both physical and mental fatigue.

Mental training is about getting your mind to a place where you can work through discomfort.

“Everyone wants to talk about mental toughness, but the truth is, mental strength only exists in the context of a challenge. You cannot be mentally tough without there being some hardship or difficulty to face. Sport psychology skills have the opportunity to develop most when you are actively challenging both your mind and body.”

• – Mind Your Narrative - Negative Self Talk - “I am not stupid! I do stupid things.”

Fear: I’m not in good enough shape to be a runner. I’ll hurt myself and not even finish.

Flip it: My body is strong and will get stronger every time I lace up my sneakers. I am a runner because I run.

The power of positivity also plays a key role in marathoners’ success. One of the top mental roadblocks for runners is pessimism, a study at the Center for Sport and Performance Psychology at Minnesota State University found.  “Negativity, whether it’s worry or doubt, often leads to self-defeating behaviors including slowing down or dropping out of a race.”

“Once you make the decision that you will not fail, the heart and the body will follow.”

                Kara Goucher

• – Stop Holding Yourself Back

“Limiting beliefs are stories we have bouncing around in our head that we usually don’t realize,” says certified running coach and life coach Amy Stone.

First work to identify these limiting beliefs as you challenge your negative self-talk. Then, try to find the origin of where these stories came from. “Intentionally choose whether you wish to continue to hold onto the story or not,” advises Stone.  If not, work to set up a new replacement thought that is more aligned with how you want to move forward.  Stone says uncovering limiting beliefs is heavy work and mostly effectively performed with a trained coach or sports psychologist.

• – Self-Regulation (MIT Press Article)
  1. There are two kinds of self-regulation, and they are often used interchangeably in scientific literature. The first is self-regulated learning, which is important in every kind of sport. It involves taking control of your own development process and using every available opportunity and situation to keep on improving, for example by tackling the steep hill instead of sticking to the flat track or going to training after a hard day’s work or a bad night’s sleep. 

     “He who is outside his door has the hardest part of the journey behind him” Dutch Proverb

  2. The second kind of self-regulation concerns how to control your emotions, thoughts, and actions and keep them in line with your goals. For example, how do you deal with the inevitable nerves before a race and feelings of boredom and fatigue while you are running?

     “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” Ralph Waldo Emerson

• – Trust your Training
  1. Set realistic goals
  2. Prepare Mentally 

     Part of what makes running require grit, perseverance, and an ample amount of mental toughness are all the variables and opportunities for something to go wrong:   Variables – weather, cramps, injury

     So, to be able to roll with the punches, you need to prepare for the worst—practically and mentally.  This means that each week during your training, you take a little bit of time and think ‘what might the conditions really be like during my race, and am I ready it?’

     The great Paavo Nurmi (a.k.a. The Flying Finn who set 22 then world records in his career in the early 20th century) famously said, “Mind is everything. Muscle, pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind.”

  3. Embrace Setbacks - Frickin' Injuries

     Matt Fitzgerald states that athletes are “ultrarealists.”  Ultrarealists succeed where others fail because they fully accept, embrace, and address the reality of their setbacks. Here’s what that looks like:

     • Accept the situation in a way that preserves the ability to make choices.
     • Embrace the situation in a way that allows them to make lemons out of lemonade.
     • Address the situation in a way that allows them to use maximal effort and good judgment.

• –  Race Day

1. Run the first 10 miles with your Head – Trust you Plan 

   Run the next 10 miles with your Legs – Trust your Training                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Run the last 10k with your heart! – Trust your Gut

2. Think Positively 

   If something unfortunate happens in a race, take a second and assess what is really happening and ask yourself if you are okay. If so, think of the next step.  What can I do to get to the finish line?

   Fitzgerald advises his athletes to find the one true thing that’s good. If your quads are burning but your arms feel loose, focus on your arms. Replace the negative with a positive that you can buy into.

3. Use a Mantra (See Below)
   • Run the Mile you are IN!
   • The Race Begins at 20!

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”  

- Hunter S. Thompson

References:

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/running-and-the-science-of-mental-toughness/

https://www.themotherrunners.com/9-mental-training-tips-from-sports-psychologists-for-runners/

https://believeperform.com/mental-toughness-in-marathon-running/

https://www.runtothefinish.com/pyschology-of-running/

https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a26042501/running-sport-psychology/

https://www.runtothefinish.com/running-mantras-why-they-work-what-elite-runners-use/

37 Running Mantras List

Here are some mantras for runners, which work both during tough runs and tough moments in life. Read through them and see if anything really hits home for you.

That’s your mantra.

• I can do hard things.
• This too shall pass.
• I can. I will.
• Just see what you can do.
• I’m loving this challenge.
• I am strong.
• Fearless and free.
• I am, I can, I will, I do.
• This is my race, no one else’s.
• Today I can do this, one step at a time.
• I’m in charge of how I feel, not my subconscious.
• I love running and it loves me back.
• I am a runner.
• Forward is a Pace
• Earn this.
• Light and fast.
• Just keep running {Nemo}
• Breathe it in. Run it out.
• This will not kill you.
• What if you can…
• Quick feet.
• I eat hills for breakfast.
• It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be
• Six pack abs – this worked when I was running near the elites :)
• “Do or do not, there is no try.” -Master Yoda
• Run Hard. Be Strong. Don’t Quit.
• This race is my B*#ch
• Relax and roll.
• Right left, right left.
• I trained for this.
• Stronger and stronger with every mile.
• My legs feel fresh and free.
• Be brave, be strong, believe, breathe.
• It’s all temporary.
• Embrace the Suck