Yes, you can train your mind to be motivated, just as you train your body to run farther and faster. Just having a plan that you believe in sets up a positive mental environment. Focusing on one small (and doable) step at a time will reduce stress and activate the human brain. By moving from one step to the next, you maintain mental momentum and take control over your motivation and your training. As you do this over and over, you reprogram the monkey brain so that the process becomes easier and easier. Here are the major cognitive actions:
Do a reality check on your goal. Make sure that it is within your current capabilities and that you have enough time to perform the key workouts with rest for rebuilding in-between. Keep evaluating your goals and adjust as you head toward the key dates on your calendar. This maintains conscious control over the process.
Acknowledge that the reflex brain responds to stress by secreting negative hormones to lower motivation. Under severe stress, the subconscious brain will reduce blood flow to gut, frontal lobe, and damaged areas to create pain, lower blood sugar level, and reduce your mental focus. Start talking to the reflex brain when this starts to happen, laugh, and tell it to open up the blood flow. This keeps you under conscious control.
Diffuse the stress by using one or more of the simple methods in this book. Keep telling that monkey brain that you know what it is doing and that you will not let this happen. This sounds silly, but it’s a frontal lobe activation strategy.
Move forward by walking. Even if you are not going to run immediately, walk around the room thinking through the next steps in the “Jump Start” program below. Use the mantras that help you shift gears. The conscious shift to positive thoughts can change your mood in a few minutes, by turning on the good attitude circuit.
When it is time for your run, go through the following “Jump-Start Your Motivation” program. Each step keeps you focused. Tell yourself, “I’m in control!”
Identify the challenges you want to manage or overcome. During the run or other quiet periods (e.g., driving in a car, waiting for a flight or meeting), list the negative messages you receive and the problems in past experiences. Then rehearse yourself through each situation.
Concentrate on one challenge at a time. Several common ones are presented in the chapter, Situations, with success strategies.
Break up the challenge into a series of small steps that take you from the beginning of the first hints of the challenge to the successful finish.Only focus on the next step—not the end result.
Mentally rehearse the steps during various quiet periods of your day. Even if you don’t know the solution to problems that come up, rehearse yourself digging down, getting through it, and finishing with a great feeling of accomplishment.
Turn on the brain circuits needed to get the job done and move from one step to the next when confronted with the challenge. When you repeat the rehearsal and fine-tune it, you are reprogramming the conscious brain to take charge. As long as you have the challenge, continue the regular rehearsal, adjusting to your situation and making it better and better.
A reality check on your goal
(Fill in the blanks and do the math so see if you are ready for your goal.)
Goal Distance:
Goal Time:
Magic Mile Time:
Add 33 seconds for 5K pace:
Multiply by 1.15 for 10K pace:
Multiply by 1.2 for half marathon pace:
Multiply by 1.3 for marathon pace:
Add 2 minutes to the marathon pace prediction for long-run pace:
I understand that the pace predictions are based on perfect conditions and my doing all of the training on the time goal program. Agree______
I understand that on the first race at any distance, a long-run training pace is recommended for the first three-quarters of the distance on race day. Agree______
Note: Training pace is at least 2 minutes per mile slower than the prediction made by the magic mile.
Jump-start your motivation
By activating our human brain when we are running, we can gain control over motivation. But most of the time we let the ancient, subconscious monkey brain govern our running. On short, easy runs, this may not a problem. But as the distance and the pace increase, the exertion and increased body temperature will increase our stress.
If the monkey brain is in control during a stress build-up, it will trigger the release of anxiety and negative attitude hormones, lowering our motivation. You don’t have to eliminate the stress to manage and do away with the negative hormones. By taking conscious action, you activate the human brain which overrides the subconscious brain and can bolster motivation within a few minutes.
Each of the following simple cognitive actions can improve mental attitude in every workout as they stimulate the secretion of the positive attitude hormones that make you feel better physically and emotionally. As you take one conscious step after another, you take control of your attitude and your running experience.
Eat a blood sugar boosting snack if needed—Low blood sugar is a major stress on the brain. A simple snack of about 100 calories can often change attitude in 20 to 30 minutes. Some runners have had a rebound by taking a sip or two of a sugar beverage and spitting it out.
Drink a cup of coffee—if you drink coffee and have no problems doing so. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant and helps with focus. Even one cup of coffee has been shown to increase the endurance time on a treadmill.
Start walking—The gentle motion of walking will stimulate good secretions of peptides, improving mood and motivation.
Smile — Smiles not only activate positive hormones that lock into molecules and result in good emotions, but they also turn on a brain circuit that bestows confidence.
Breathe in cadence with your steps — Rhythmical breathing has been shown to activate the human brain, reduce stress, and give us a sense of control. Take a lower lung breath every third or fourth breath.
Believe that you will feel better and that you are doing something positive for yourself — Your positive belief in what you are doing activates positive hormones.
Lower the adversity of the workout or race—If you are feeling stress or pressure when considering a pace of 14 min/mi, then run 15 min/mi. If a run walk run strategy of run 60 seconds/walk 30 seconds seems challenging, use 30/30, 20/20, or 15/15. Shorter running segments often leave you feeling so strong that you increase speed at the end—or at least feel strong at the end. (Be sure to get over to the side of the road to take walk breaks and use a beeping timer to signal to fellow runners).
Mantras — Talk to yourself. You can create your own or use the following:
I’m moving—I feel good.
I know I can do this.
I’m feeling better.
The positive peptides are being received—I feel better.
I’m changing my attitude.
My exertion is making me feel better.
One more minute.
30 more seconds.
10 more seconds.
One more step, one more step, one more step.