Pressure is generated by perceived expectations. We know that our boss, our spouse, our parents, or children each have expectations of various types. Most of this is not communicated, which is too bad. Things get more interesting as we interact with the key people in our lives and encounter conflicting expectations. In many cases, the expectations exceed what we can deliver currently (or ever). Self-perceived pressure can produce the greatest stress for most of the runners with whom I’ve worked. Those who have perfectionist tendencies accumulate the most pressure. In any case, sustained pressure is a major source of stress. But there is hope.
Sources of stress
Goal stress—Goals can motivate us to run when we might otherwise sleep in and motivate us to push harder when we don’t feel like doing so. But on the tough days, we often sense pressure from a looming goal and deadline. Choosing goals that are not realistic is a very common source of pressure—and will make every aspect of the journey more stressful.
Workout stress—Extending the distance of long runs results in greater fatigue at the end. Heat increases this stress. Speed training offers an additional set of challenges. All of these can be managed, but the stress load will increase during the training and trigger low motivation hormones and other protection responses. Good news: In this book you’ll find coping strategies for each of these sources.
“Exceeding our speed limit” stress—We usually feel really good at the beginning of the workout, too good. The increased pace or extended distance or reduced run walk run ratio produces a gradual fatigue build-up that is often denied until the muscles are spent. This dramatically increases lingering soreness and muscle weakness for days afterward, which add to the stress load.
Lingering fatigue—When we push past endurance or speed limits by increasing physical workload, most of the fatigue is erased during the rest day after workouts. When the workload is too hard for current ability or not enough rest was allowed, some body parts have pockets of lingering damage. The subconscious brain targets these areas for blood flow restriction when stress is too high (see the TMS section in the glossary).
Other sources of stress and pressure
Primitive genetic programming—These are survival reflexes that were appropriate for hunter-gathers or cavemen, but not for us. An example is anger management issues.
Negative learning—We can learn negative behavior patterns in childhood when we imitated parents, teachers, or coaches who simply did not know the correct methods or concepts (or didn’t know they were being imitated). Even when we learn that these early lessons were not logical or right, the childhood programming will trigger anxieties when we embark on a positive method that is in conflict as long as we allow the monkey brain to control our run.
Unresolved issues from childhood or adolescence—These can be very commonly the result of anger and rage during early development from neglect, lack of love and caring, unresolved disputes, no respect, being told that one is a failure, etc.
Current stress from job, family, or other—Most commonly these revolve around continuing life conflict situations that you cannot control. Some examples are the following: You have to work for a boss who makes bad decisions; you and your spouse disagree about some family issue; you want to give your kids some form of freedom, but they are acting suspiciously.
Note: You don’t have to eliminate the stress or pressure to get motivated. You need to mentally focus on a realistic plan to shift the control center to the conscious, human brain..