My race is less than one week away....
Gulp! OMG! HOLY S#@&! NO WAY!....I digress...
And while I feel "prepared" for the race, I have been battling some negative thoughts.
Will I finish in the time I want?
What if its too hot?
What if my IT-bands ( yes, both....FML) make me miserable for 5 hours?
What if I can't sleep?
What if Kyle snores all night?( ha ha j/k...no wait that could happen)
What if my stomach hurts?
What if I have to walk?
I know, from experience, that the mental training is one of the biggest, and quite possible, one of the most important parts of marathon training.
People who know me, know that I am generally really hard on myself.
I think that a lot of my success in this training process has been to be positive and to focus on the positive. This is hard work, let me tell you. My negative voices are loud and strong....it took some serious energy to defeat them. When I start feeling bad I remind myself that I truly kick ass and that I am pushing my body to extreme measures and reaching goals I never thought I could! And how could I be sad about that! I am awesome!
In my months of training I don't think I have hit the "WALL".... yet....( for my facebook followers: my post-22, 16-miler was a recovery issue not a mental issue....I think...I hope...) I hope I don't meet Mr. WALL on Sunday since I felt great during and after my 22 miler....a race simulation run essentially...
But at this point, I feel like, so what if I do, its not like I will stop and give-up. I know it will be hard...22 was hard, no joke....but I stayed positive, I sang to myself out loud (seriously...ask the Griffith Park construction works I passed 4 times during that run) and kept saying to myself "make it to the next mile", "one more mile", until there were no miles left. I am masochistic.....I like pushing myself.
I wanted to share a study I read about the "mental game" of marathoning....interesting stuff, I must say. So it appears that us runners typically use 4 types of psychological coping strategies to get through the BIG RACE:
Internal association: This is where you focus on how your body is feeling while you run--sore knees, sore muscles, too hot/too cold, tummy issues...wait that all sounded negative...let's try that again....loose muscles, good body temperature, good hydration...
Internal dissociation: This is essentially distraction: playing games with yourself ( make it to the next water stop, make it to the next trash can), singing out loud to your ipod, repeating mantras...
External association: This focuses on what is happening outside of your body... passing or being passed by other runners ( grrrr!!!), looking out for fluid stations and calculating pace, etc.
External dissociation: This one also focuses outwardly-but on things/events that are unimportant to the race.....the enjoyment of the scenery ( hello beach!) or crowds cheering you on, that hot guy running without his shirt....I'm just sayin'...
The study reported that the greatest percentage of those who hit the WALL said they had relied primarily on internal dissociation. It seems all-out distraction may make it difficult for you to judge your pace and to know other vital information( are you dehydrated or hungry?) It's therefore not a good idea to avoid monitoring your body and checking out altogether.
Internal association, the most practiced of the four strategies, magnified discomfort among the runners, who reported the WALL appearing much earlier and lasting longer than others.
External dissociation seems not to lead runners into the trap of hitting the WALL, as you might expect from the results of internal dissociation. The researchers speculate that the observance, however unrelated to racing strategy, of passing by other runners and spectators may provide enough of the focus needed to keep the correct pace and effectively anticipate hills and so forth. Similarly, runners using external association didn't experience the WALL as often or as intensely as the internally-focused groups. It sounds like the best strategy is to check in on your body periodically-if briefly-and focus most of your attention externally: on both factors important to the marathon as well as on the enjoyable atmosphere. Focusing on the cheer-ers may be unrelated to your performance in any direct sense, but it nevertheless has the power to surround you and energize you as you pound the pavement, keeping your head up, your confidence high and your feet moving toward that finish line....and really...THAT is my only goal for Sunday.
Holla Back: How do YOU get past the WALL? Any fun/funny mantras to share? :)
Happy Running!
~Lauren
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