At any stage of a hard race, even in the first third, you can encounter problems that add stress, stimulate monkey brain negative hormones, and make you feel progressively less motivated. If you focus on positive, cognitive mantras, you can turn your brain around.
Desensitize yourself in your mental race rehearsal by listing every negative stress feeling you have had in hard workouts and races. It often helps to say to yourself, “I’m going to feel like slowing down; I’m going to want to give up; I’m going to lose my motivation.”
Confront each negative with a positive statement:
The negative is... | The positive is... |
“Back off, this isn’t my day.” | “Don’t give up!” |
“There are other races.” | “I can do it today!” |
“Why am I doing this?” | “I’m empowering myself!” |
Evaluate whether there is a real medical reason (which is rare). If there is a health problem, back off and conserve—there will be another day.
Most commonly, the monkey brain is responding to the stress build-up of the race by triggering negative peptides, creating a negative emotional environment. A successful strategy during the first onset of this attitude downturn is to glide a little. If needed, take a short walk break (15-20 seconds) to mentally regroup and focus on the next segment of the race.
Activate your rhythmic breathing (mentioned in the in the section, “Jump-Start Your Motivation,” on chapter 6. Smile and start running again with a light touch and smooth cadence. Each one of these actions engages the frontal lobe and stimulates the positive peptides to transmit a message of hope throughout the body.
To do your best in a race, you must manage the stress build-up by using a routine such as the following. You are training yourself to keep going, which is 90 % of the battle. You are also programming the conscious brain to regularly check on the reflex brain, stop the negative thoughts, and insert positive beliefs.
Note: None of these drills are cast in stone. Adapt them to your needs and strengths. You will continue to adapt them as you move through the process.
Continue to confront monkey brain emotions with strength statements: Don’t quit! I can do it!
In your speed workouts, practice the following drill. Fine-tune this so that when you run your goal race, you will have a strategy for staying mentally focused and positive. Your belief in a plan will activate brain circuits which can get the job done.
The scene:You’re getting very tired and stressed in a race. You’d really like to call it quits, or at least slow down significantly.
Quick strategies:
Break up the remaining race into segments that you know you can do.
1 more minute: Run for one minute, and then reduce pace slightly for a few seconds. Then say, “One more minute” again and again. (You can even use 30 or 15 seconds.)
10 more steps: Run about 10 steps, take a couple of easy steps, and then say, “Ten more steps.”
1 more step: Keep saying this over and over—you’ll get there.
Take an extra walk break to gather yourself, if you need it.
Take some gliding breaks. By doing the acceleration-glider drill, you will be prepared to do this in the race. You can actually insert three to four acceleration-glider or cadence drills when you feel you are slowing down.
Reduce the tension on your leg muscles and feet by gliding for a few strides every one to two minutes. The acceleration-glider drill prepares you for this moment, particularly when coasting downhill.
Segment by segment:
In the race, if you really question your ability to finish, start each mile by saying to yourself, “Just one more” (even if you have four to go), “One more minute,” or “Ten more steps.” You’ll make it the whole way.
Teamwork! If you are on a team, your teammates need you to finish, and you need your teammates to finish. The commitment to a friend or larger group can pull you through many difficult workouts or races. Even having a long-distance friend who you are going to report to helps to pull you through a tough run. Some runners bring their cellphones on long runs and call their friends as lifelines.
When you are getting close to the end and really feel like you can’t keep going, say to yourself, “I am tough; I can endure; yes I can; one more step.”
I CAN DO IT....I AM DOING IT....I DID IT!