I’m not going to lie. I’m not feeling as confident about this marathon as I have in the past. After a month of injury recovery, if feels like my long run mojo has up and left. I have a little over two weeks of taper to get it back.
I am quite stubborn when I want to be. This is one of the things that I think has helped me get through some of the hardest points of my long runs and marathons. Being the stubborn cow that I am can only get me so far though and with the way that I’m feeling right now, I’m going to need to employ a few mental exercises and other bits to go along with that stubbornness to keep me going till the end. All 26.2 miles if I need to.
Aww, my first marathon at roughly 12 miles in. I look so happy there.
The mental tricks and other stuff that helps keep me going.
Beat the person in front of you – There’s almost always going to be a runner in front of you in race conditions. Concentrate on just getting past them (especially effective when said person has a back pocket full of change, SO glad to get past that runner).
Running mantra – A short line to say over and over again, it helps keep a rhythm going. Mine is “just keep swimming”. I know someone who has the mantra “nice cold beer”.
Walk breaks – I’m doing a walk/run strategy this time. 9 mins of running and 1 min of walking. I’m just going to concentrate on getting to the next walk break.
Working the crowd – Crowds can really help. Some of my best bits of the Brighton marathon include those where the crowd helped out, be it high fives, getting them to cheer, offering sweets/grapes, amazing race signs, yelling out my name. Honestly, get you name on your shirt. You will feel like a star. London should be great for this, there’s a lot of crowd.
End game – This is where I keep in mind the finish line and the feeling or getting up to it, crossing it and being handed the medal. This one may be hit and miss, depending on what you’re like, but it’s one that often helps me.
Story time, aka getting your mind off of what you’re doing – For long runs, I use the Zombies, Run app. It plays my music and every song or so there’s a snippet of story. It’s great for when there’s just me, but for races I tend to not have music on. I don’t want to miss the atmosphere! I always think I may throw my headphones in a pocket, just in case I really need a music boost, but I never have so far. For other times when it’s just me sans the music, I tell myself stories or I start listing stuff. I’ve been trying to write a novel for a bit, so trying to think up bits of the story is a good mental exercise and stops me thinking about my feet.
Chatting with similar paced runners – This one comes under the get your mind off of it thread as well, assuming you can still talk to a degree, depending on your effort level. One of my better ParkRuns was one where the 19 min pacer came to chat with me on my final lap. After my mind was taken off of my run, I ran much better.
Remember why you’re running – I’m going to look at sticking names of all the people SpecialEffect have helped in the past onto my pacer wristband if I get it. It might not make me faster, but will help with keeping the stubbornness.
If all else fails, the mental bitch slap – This is for when I’m really feeling it and feeling like giving up. This is when I call myself names and I’m really rather harsh at myself. Sometimes I need a good kick up the backside, and the only person around to give it to me is me. Again, this one may depend on what you’re like, but for me it works. The run is only short in comparison to the years of feel good “I did it, look at my shiny medal” feeling that you get when you finish.
Okay, that list was a little longer than I thought it might be. I might not use all of them during the race, but they are all there in my arsenal for the day if I need it. Do you have any mental tricks that you use for long runs and marathons?
fayarun 