The subject of this blog post is about the mental demons that can eat away at you during a run, especially a marathon, and explore whether there are methods of combating them.
The reason for writing, is that unfortunately, for whatever reason (I don't know the in's and out's) one of Wesham's runners that was participating in today's Liverpool Rock and Roll Marathon found themselves pulling out at the 11 mile mark.
As disappointing as this must have been for them after all the weeks of hard training, they are not alone. There will have been many that didn't complete the course, as there were at London 7 weeks ago - I remember passing several athletes who had pulled up over the 26.2 mile course.
Now of course some of these will be due to physical over-exertion, dehydration or injury. But the chances are, I reckon at least some of them will be due to suffering mentally, as the distance takes you to some painful places psychologically, just as much as it does physically. Sometimes people just cannot be prepared for this side of the challenge as readily as the can the physical aspects.
In relative terms, if you are looking to just get around the 26.2 miles, regardless of time, it is relatively easy to prepare yourself physically. However, the marathon is not just a physical challenge. I would argue that as much as 30% of the task you face in running any marathon is mental, and that is something which can be somewhat harder to prepare for.
Unless you are an elite and targeting big times, then it is highly unlikely that you will actually complete the full distance of 26.2 miles in your training - most will probably get up to around 22-23 miles at most. So straight away, this can leave you asking yourself - can I complete the full distance?
Once you start to question yourself, the doubts can quite easily start to creep in.
I have never hidden the fact that I too found myself questioning my ability to complete London in my targeted time at stages of the race - especially between the 16-18 mile mark. The reason for this? Simple - I was tired, I was eating into my energy stores, and during this period of the race you can find yourself in a bit of a 'no-man's land', where the adrenaline of the first few miles has worn off, and you are too far away from the finish to feel like you are on the 'home run' just yet.
It is an immense mental task to stay focussed and doubt-free for such a length of time - most runners will take 4 hours plus to complete the course don't forget, so how hard must it be to completely concentrate for such a long length of time?
Elite professional athletes are in a privileged position where they can prepare for such events with access to sports psychologists, who can help to train the mind. Unfortunately, unless you have lots of money and time, it can be difficult for us amateurs to experience this benefit!
So what can we do to combat the mental demons and dark forces of self-doubt, that almost all runners will experience during a marathon? Perhaps we should all start talking about it more! We all share our experiences of physical pain and exertion in the aftermath of a marathon, and warn people what to expect, but rarely (if ever) have I seen or experienced people talk about the mental challenge they faced and experienced in their journey.
Furthermore, the amount it can help when running as part of a group can be amazing too. So get people in and around you, and talk to each other, let each other know when you are finding it tough and encourage each other.
Between you and me, I reckon if I hadn't landed lucky and got running in such a fabulous group, in the scenario I found myself in at London, I genuinely felt like the wheels were about to come off at that stage prior to those fantastic last 6.2 miles.
Anybody who saw my marathon coverage on the TV though, will also have seen some (yes, funny)questionable face-pulling, grimacing and pain-ridden expressions. What you can read more into this though is the tiredness I was experiencing mentally as I tried to shut out everything going on around me and focus on that finish line and keeping my legs moving. Watching it back, and the amount of comments that I had about the amount of times I was seen checking my watch, should also tell you about how my mind was beginning to play tricks on me over time and distance to go etc.
So if you find yourself struggling mentally when running, remember you are not alone, and that it affects us all - and if you don't manage to finish it, scratch it off as a lesson learned and experience gained. After all, none of us manage to learn to ride a bike, without falling off a few times first!
Sunday 14 June 2015
Building blocks
Training can seem a little bit daunting and/or repetitive sometimes.
If you are looking to make significant improvements in your times and performances, then if you don't break your training down in to small, manageable chunks, then it can be easy to get lost and forget exactly what the aims and objectives you are striving to are.
Conversely, if you was to take each session separately, and fail to form some sort of cohesive training plan, then it can be difficult to maximise your training and get the most out of your sessions as you can.
To that end, I try to target specific races and put together training plans that are moulded more towards preparing myself to perform over that distance - whatever that may be.
Now, obviously when training for a marathon, these training blocks are a bit different. You tend to work off in the region of a 16 week training plan. For London this year I actually trained specifically for the marathon distance for 19 weeks. But even then, it is possible to break up those 16-19 weeks into smaller chunks and set yourself little targets, or goals, in order to make the training seem slightly less daunting and more manageable.
Since London, I have moved onto my next wave of training and set my sights on the Freckleton Half Marathon as my big 'goal' to work towards.
From the finishing line at London, to the start line at Freckleton, I was left with pretty much exactly 8 weeks to prepare.
I took most of the week immediately after the marathon off to allow my body to fully recover. I had a massage on the Thursday, then left it until the 6th day after before I went on my first recovery run. It was possibly the slowest 7 miles I have ever run! But it was the start of the preparation for Freck. I then took the final day of that week off, so it was pretty much a full week of rest and left me feeling nice and refreshed.
It was hard refraining myself from running in that week, such was the buzz that I was on after finishing - but looking back now, I know it was the right decision and probably vital for my recovery and to make sure I was back fit to run hard as soon as possible afterwards.
The following week, I surprised myself slightly at how quickly I managed to get back into my training. I did the Avenham Park 5k on the Monday, and despite tiring half way through it and feeling leggy, I think it was a very important run for me, as the quick miles seemed to blast the remaining lactic out of my legs.
My last 6 weeks of training have seen me record the following miles per week: 65, 61, 64, 70, 70,68. So an average mileage of 66.5 miles a week over this period - which interestingly is pretty much exactly identical to the biggest 6 weeks of training I recorded in my training prior to the marathon.
With the Half Marathon at Freckleton now just one week away, the next 7 days will now be about conditioning myself to try and ensure I am in my best possible shape to run well on the day.
Then I will sit down and assess how things went and what I could have done differently. After that I will pick out my next race to target, and the same process will begin again.
Improving is a process and it will take all runners different amounts of time to achieve their goals, but take it one step at a time - I have come a long way sine I started out in this picture, my first run in a Wesham (borrowed) vest! But I hope I still have a long way to go on this journey to self improvement :)
If you are looking to make significant improvements in your times and performances, then if you don't break your training down in to small, manageable chunks, then it can be easy to get lost and forget exactly what the aims and objectives you are striving to are.
Conversely, if you was to take each session separately, and fail to form some sort of cohesive training plan, then it can be difficult to maximise your training and get the most out of your sessions as you can.
To that end, I try to target specific races and put together training plans that are moulded more towards preparing myself to perform over that distance - whatever that may be.
Now, obviously when training for a marathon, these training blocks are a bit different. You tend to work off in the region of a 16 week training plan. For London this year I actually trained specifically for the marathon distance for 19 weeks. But even then, it is possible to break up those 16-19 weeks into smaller chunks and set yourself little targets, or goals, in order to make the training seem slightly less daunting and more manageable.
Since London, I have moved onto my next wave of training and set my sights on the Freckleton Half Marathon as my big 'goal' to work towards.
From the finishing line at London, to the start line at Freckleton, I was left with pretty much exactly 8 weeks to prepare.
I took most of the week immediately after the marathon off to allow my body to fully recover. I had a massage on the Thursday, then left it until the 6th day after before I went on my first recovery run. It was possibly the slowest 7 miles I have ever run! But it was the start of the preparation for Freck. I then took the final day of that week off, so it was pretty much a full week of rest and left me feeling nice and refreshed.
It was hard refraining myself from running in that week, such was the buzz that I was on after finishing - but looking back now, I know it was the right decision and probably vital for my recovery and to make sure I was back fit to run hard as soon as possible afterwards.
The following week, I surprised myself slightly at how quickly I managed to get back into my training. I did the Avenham Park 5k on the Monday, and despite tiring half way through it and feeling leggy, I think it was a very important run for me, as the quick miles seemed to blast the remaining lactic out of my legs.
My last 6 weeks of training have seen me record the following miles per week: 65, 61, 64, 70, 70,68. So an average mileage of 66.5 miles a week over this period - which interestingly is pretty much exactly identical to the biggest 6 weeks of training I recorded in my training prior to the marathon.
With the Half Marathon at Freckleton now just one week away, the next 7 days will now be about conditioning myself to try and ensure I am in my best possible shape to run well on the day.
Then I will sit down and assess how things went and what I could have done differently. After that I will pick out my next race to target, and the same process will begin again.
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