To finish off this series of mental preparation, this article will focus on the actual race itself. So you have done all the mental prep before the race and the prep at the start line. Then, you hear the gun sound off.
First three miles:
*Start off slow. One of the most common mistakes made by runners is going off too fast. At the very beginning, you feel that you could go strong for a very long time, your very upbeat, rested, and confident. But remember to hold yourself back, the first three miles should be very easy. There will be a lot of people passing you, and that's okay, let them, you'll catch them later. But you don't want to be starting off at a gusty pace, because this will drain your energy for the duration of the race.
*Run your pace. Run at the pace that you have been training at. Going along with the common mistakes that runners make, is that they try to match the fast pace of other runners. For example, if you have been training at a 8:30 pace, and then run the first three miles of the race at 7:15. Even through you may feel great for the first mile or two, this will drain your energy very quickly.
Miles 2-5
*Don't let your emotions get the best of you. This usually happens when people are passing you. This can make many loose their focus. This comes back to doing those visualization exercises I mentioned in Part 1. Visualize your mindset when people are passing you, and rehearse your mind keeping focus when person after person are passing you. This really helps train the mind to handle these race situations.
Miles 6-10
*Break up the rest of the race in sections. This can be done in mile sections, two miles sections, or whatever works for you. I have heard of some that would run, and then take a break at each water station, then continue running. Others I have heard of doing a mile countdown. There are many different variations that runners do, find the one that works for you, and them apply it to the race.
*Trust your training. If you have trained for the race, and have trained well, trust that the training will carry you to the finish line. Once you start getting to miles 8-10, tiredness is setting in, your joints might start feeling pain at this time. and probably breathing heavy. These are normal for any runner at this distance. But this is why you go through training programs to help combat these things. And as you enter miles 8-10, your training will help prepare you physically for this section of the race.
Last 5k
*Boredom. This can be a tricky one to beat, especially when you're getting tired and achy. If you can, carry music with you, sing along with the song, talk to other runners, enjoy the scenery, or play games. Such as, count how many runners have a red tank.
*Visualize. I think that this may be one of the most important things that you can do for all aspects of the race. This point of the race, the miles may be the toughest. You're going to be very tired, muscles and joints may be very sore. You're dying to have 'actually' food, gelspaks and Gatorade is no longer cutting it. This is where you're going to have to do a lot of digging. And I mean digging deep mentally. You can try distract yourself, and at this point, you're are going to start seeing people, because you're getting close to the finish line. The cheering from the crowds are going to be a great help to you getting to the finish line.
*Start talking to yourself. Whether this is in your mind or vocally, talking your way to the finish line can help greatly to get you across the finish line. It will also help you dig deep, to reach for inner motivation to finish. Remind yourself that you have trained hard for this. Remind yourself that you are going to feel great once you get to the finish line. Think of the people that are waiting for you at the finish line.
These are tips and advice that has helped me throughout each race that I have ran in. Work with these tips in your training workouts, you will get better at the with time. If there are tips that you have done that has helped you in a race, post them in the comments below.
See also: Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 1
See also: Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 2
1 comments:
Big thanks to you for sharing such great information about mental tips.
Dwan Bent-Twyford
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