Training your mind

Let me begin by writing, I'm not everyone.  I'm just me.  And my ideas about training come from my experiences and research.  Maybe I should follow that up with those:

Twice all-conference in D3 college football (4 yr starter)

Past mountain bike racer (best finish 2nd in Telluride sport class) (and some 8- 12- and 24-hour races)

Past adventure racer (raced in the USARA 30-hr Nat'l Championship race)

I've run 9 ultra-marathons, 6 marathons, and a gazillion 5 & 10k's

BA in sports management from Monmouth College

Was a full-time personal trainer for 7 years.

I've done a lot more racing than mentioned above, and I'm above average usually (some multi-sport events or cycling I'm fast).  I'm out there to finish and do my best, not to win.  If you're out to win, I'm sure you aren't looking at this blog for training advice anyway, so hopefully I'm writing to the appropriate audience.

I learned in college, playing football, the importance of mental conditioning.  The coaches drill it into you in football and I learned to use imagery and visualization to optimize my performance both on the field and in the weight room.  It's not complicated, it just takes time and persistence.  

Here are a few methods I've used in the past (and some I still use) to squeeze more effort out of my body:

1. Get pissed.  This works especially good during high intensity exercise (sprints, strength training).  I like to think of something that someone could say to me that would really piss me off.  Something that, if I was already near my breaking-point, could throw me into a rage.  Then I like to take myself there mentally.  And say those words to myself and feel the rage explode inside me just prior to that big effort.  Hey, it's controlled rage.

2. Relax.  Sometimes I'm a little too pent-up and need to calm down.  Long, sustained efforts or getting worked up too early before a high-intensity effort.  It's all about controlling your emotions in order to optimize your performance.  And sometimes when I'm running distance I can feel my heart-rate is elevated above what it should be or my muscles are tightening up when I need to stay loose.  And I say the word, "relax."  Say it calmly over and over again, as a mother might say to her baby.  And then calm your breathing and physically relax or shake out the muscles that are jumping the gun.  "Slow down" works pretty well too.

3. Lie.  A long time ago I realized that I hated to run distance.  I knew it, I'd write it in my journal, I'd tell people, and it was true.  And one day I thought, what if I start saying the opposite?  And so I started saying out loud to myself as I ran, "I love running."  And I'd tell everyone I talked to that I love running.  And I'd write how much I loved it in my journal.  And something funny happened.  I began to love running.  It's not the activity that demands you love it or hate it, solely what you think in your mind.  You can be doing the most wretched thing and convince yourself that you love it.  So here's what I figured out.  When someone speaks to you, you have a natural tendency to just believe what they say.  That's how life works.  Without that natural instinct, all of life would involve disbelief of everything and constant investigation- and you wouldn't believe what your investigations told you either.  So the next thing I figured out was that your brain tends to believe what others say to you, but that effect is ten-fold when it hears your own voice.  When you say something out loud, your ears hear it and your mind grasps it as the truth.  So that's the key to changing your mind.  I say it all the time when I'm running or biking.  "I love running."  "I love mountain biking."  "I love running up hill."  "I love running in the heat."  "I love pain."

To be most effective, I think you need to keep your statements positive.  So instead of saying, "Don't stop," I would say "Keep going."  I've added a few mantras that help me with pain:

"Pain is my adrenaline; pain makes me stronger; pain gives me energy; I love pain."

Pain is one of the over-riding effects of long-distance that one must learn to deal with in order to keep going.

There are a lot of other mental techniques that work, like visualizing the course and your techniques before the event.  Getting into "the zone."  There are a lot of books about sports psychology and most of them probably have good advice.  Probably best to take it from someone who knows it practically than from a scientist.  

Anyway, I know it's hot, but get out there and have fun on the trails.  At least you can be cooler under the shade of trees.  Drink plenty of water.  The DoubleShot Duathlon and 5k Trail run is about 2 months out.