Coach Your Brain

Thinking on your Feet
You’ve been training for weeks and the payoff is still weeks away. The miles have been racking up: ten, fifteen, twenty. Every day you spend hours training your body to go the distance. But is your mind going with you?

Any champion runner will tell you that their mentality has as much to do with their success as any physical training regimen. Your mind is what helps you overcome failure and strive for success. It helps you recover from injury and run through the pain that comes with hard training. It tells you when to pace yourself, and when to dig deep for more.

Think like a Champ
Champions share many characteristics, none of which are determined by their running speeds. How many of these statements describe your running and your life?

• A champion has the courage to risk failure, knowing that setbacks are lessons from which to learn.
• A champion uses a race to gain greater self-knowledge as well as feedback on physical improvement.
• A champion trains thought processes as well as the body to produce a total approach to performance.
• A champion understands his athletic weaknesses and trains to strengthen them.
• A champion actively creates a life of balance, moderation, and simplicity—values that help them improve running and life.
• A champion views competitors as partners who provide challenge and the chance to improve.
• A champion understands that running performances are like a roller coaster, with many ups and downs, and that you have to accept both the good and the bad.
• A champion enjoys running for the simple pleasures it provides.
• A champion has a vision.
• A champion dreams of things that haven’t been and believes they are possible.
• A champion says, "I can."

Relax!
Believe it or not, most marathoners will tell you that when the going gets tough, the tough take it easy. Keep in mind when you’re running a marathon, you’re in it for the long haul, and there are going to be stretches over the 26.2 mile course that are going to test not only your resolve, but your discipline. Almost all long-distance racers have encountered the dreaded “wall,” and if they were smart, they took their pace down a notch and let themselves recover. Whether racing or training, forcing yourself to run at your fastest during times you feel your worst will only deplete your energy reserves more quickly, and may cause you to crash even harder later on. It may be hard to see other racers passing you, but you’ll reap the benefits of allowing your body to recuperate, and end up passing many of them yourself in a few miles.

Also, remember that keeping your muscles tense saps your body of valuable energy. Keep your muscles as slack and loose as possible, especially those in your face and jaw, where a great deal of muscle tension originates.

If you find yourself waning around mile 20, and you can’t keep up your pace, then hold back. If you push too hard, you may end up walking the last few miles to the finish line at a loss of 30-40 minutes, instead of 3-4. The best way to avoid this entirely is to set a realistic pace from the beginning, one you can keep up throughout the race.

Finally, breathe! Controlled breathing is absolutely critical to performance. It helps you stay in touch with your body and keeps your form under control. Proper breathing also helps keep your muscles relaxed and prevents energy from being wasted unnecessarily. Try taking deep, controlled breaths. Find a rhythm that works and stick with it. Concentrating on your breathing can also help you through the rough spots in a race that might otherwise stop you completely.

Tapering
In the next few weeks, depending on your training schedule, you will begin the process of tapering. Tapering is the period leading up to the marathon when you reduce your weekly mileage and give your body time to recover and rest before the big day. It is important to take this process seriously. Some runners feel they must push their bodies to the maximum up until the last moment before the marathon, but experienced coaches will usually tell you than demanding too much of your body right before a race can sabotage your endurance when you need it most. So when you see a reduction in your training miles, take the time to recover. You may feel like you can run 20 miles now, but it doesn’t always mean you should.

If you’re worried about gaining weight during this period, you can reduce your calorie intake slightly, but don’t overcompensate. Gaining a pound or two before race day won’t slow you down nearly as much as an undernourished body. Still, concentrate on carbohydrate-rich foods, and remember to build up your glycogen stores with foods like salmon and lean meats.

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