So, what is this thing I call Mental Skills for Runners? Sport psychology for runners is all about learning tools and strengthening your mind to be the most helpful it can be during training and competition. It can include things like self-confidence, stress management, nerve management, positive self-talk, focus, or motivation. These are all skills that can be learned and improved upon with practice. Many elite athletes already use mental performance coaches, but they are not only for the elites. One of my favorite things about marathon running is that amateurs run the same course under the same conditions as the professionals. So why not give yourself the same tools? You are literally running the same race!
Most athletes would say there is a huge mental component to what they do. I believe distance running is in a league of its own. When you are running a marathon, you have to ride the line between pushing hard enough to get the best result possible and restraining enough to be able to last for hours. It’s finding a balance between expending and sustaining as much energy as possible. Running is an extremely monotonous sport, which can cause your mind to wander. Under stress, such as after hours of running, your mind may go to a dark place. You may start to unwittingly focus on what hurts or all the reasons why you want to stop. Sport psychology is partly about controlling that mind wandering. Bringing your thoughts back from the abyss. Runners don’t need to focus for short, repeated periods of time like golfers or baseball players do. And they don’t get time to reset between points like tennis players or football players do. There is no halftime like soccer or time-outs like basketball. Even if you are on a team, your part of a race depends solely on what you do. Running requires sustained focus, or the ability to decide what to focus on. The key is to learn to control your thoughts so that they are most helpful for you at any given moment. Your mindset is not something that just happens. You would never show up at a marathon start line without training your body. So why do it without training your mind?
Sport psychology is also about empowering you, the runner, to feel more self-confident. To challenge yourself to accomplish goals you once thought unattainable. You are capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for. With mental skills training, you can gain the confidence in yourself to achieve goals in running and in life.