Garry Nelson's teacher
Well-known member
Some interesting and valid points in that article. I'd suggest there is a wider point here- in long runs such as marathons, yes the mental side plays a big part - probably more so than shorter distances (and of course you have to have done the training as well). My belief is that you need to understand your motivation and that may be driven by many different factors - for example get a medal, wanting to set a PB, run under 4 hours, run 100 marathons, raise money for charity, memory of a loved one, improve fitness or dare I say it to beat another member of a chat site (mentioning no names). Being aware of your Emotional Intelligence and leveraging it works in the same way. If you can frame both your training and the race itself, including that difficult mid -section of the race, in these terms and refer to them at times of difficulty then you will have more chance of succeeding. For example getting out of bed on a dark winter morning for a LSR will be less difficult if you do it not because you want to do the training itself, but because you want raise the money for charity in four months time. Similarly at the start of the race telling yourself you will not start too fast because that will help you run under four hours.
I have come to the realisation that my main motivation is simply I enjoy running, and I think realising this has taken a lot pressure away and consequently I had my most enjoyable, relaxed and fulfilling marathon at Brighton this year, ran a decent time to boot and had the best recovery I've had after the event.
Really good points. It certainly helps to explain my motivation to hold off the challenge of a certain [MENTION=15605]knocky1[/MENTION]. Some of us are PB/AG hunters. I never 'enjoyed' long runs even when I was running 1:31 halves and almost can't see how anyone can (of course I know they can and do). Perhaps we 'naturally' eventually gravitate to our most suitable event in terms of psychology* and physiology and you are evidence of this.
*not sure just how deep you can go on this one: I was the 'fat lad' at school and sometimes that is a factor