RELAXATION and  BEING A MENTAL CASE

As our running group head towards their next series of races, the Athens marathon, the Nelson half marathon, and the New York marathon, we are all finding out a few things.

1. It's bloody hot in the Northern Territory at this time of the year.

2. Training for a marathon is a battle of mind over matter.

Our long runs on the weekend start at 5:30 in the morning and it's already 25,° and gets to well over 30° or the time we finish. We haven't had any rain here since the start of April, and when there is traffic on the road, you get coated in a choking cloud of bull dust. We have to carry all our own water these days, as the creeks have all dried up, so that adds at least 5 kg to our packs. If we can organise it, we get a car to come out, and meet us along the way with resupply. The sun beats down on you once it's up, there is not a whole lot of shade. Sweat, and hydration is the name of the game. Everyone is finding the last hour of our long-running pretty tough, as we all start overheating. This is where mental strength comes in. Your ability to hold the line when it all gets very hard. In my mind, it's the biggest lesson we can learn, and relearn, not only for our sport, but in life in general. The battle of physical pain, against mental strength is the hardest combination you are going to have to deal with in your lives. Pain is terribly debilitating, and it can just wear you down to the point of capitulation. Everyone has to find their own way to deal with it.

But there are a couple of common things.

First is to RELAX. Start focusing on what's going on inside, and not to think about other stuff. It takes work, and concentration to relax. All your senses are your gauges, and you have to listen to and decide on a plan of action to address what each of those senses are telling you. Start with the ones that are obviously taking your attention, and deal with those. A lot of pain comes from your technique deteriorating as you become tired. So start looking for technique changes. Think back to my last blog on running technique. I can tell you from some experience now, that if you look at your technique, and make an adjustment, most of the time that pain will go, or at least abate to a manageable level. RELAX it can make a big difference.

As I have mentioned, it is not the time to distract yourself. You have to concentrate, and deal with your issues. This is where mental strength plays a big part.

I have often wondered what mental strength is all about. What does it mean? The best I can come up with is, it's your ability to endure in the face of increasing hardship. Increasing hardship, or pain while you run long distances, is different to pain from an accident, or illness. That pain largely is out of your control, but running discomfort is self inflicted. You have full control over your level of discomfort, and that is the difference. It is so easy to stop, so hard to hold the line. My blog on Excuses, addresses this issue to some extent. You can make an excuse, or a decision to hold the line.

Do things like talk out loud to yourself. This is where experience, and maturity can make a big difference. Hurray for us "oldies"!!!! You also need to be methodical, calm, and remain relaxed. There is that word again. Years ago when I set my fastest times for the marathon, and the Ironman Triathlon, my training had not been any different, my job was the same. There was not anything different physically and psychologically, or in regards to my nutrition that brought about  those better times. But what I do remember, and it is a common observation, is that it was so easy. I was relaxed the whole way. Don't get me wrong, it was fearfully hard work, but I remain focused and aware of my senses, and after 5 or 6 years of these competitions, I had a level of confidence. The ability to play these cards right, takes time with these long distance races. It takes time to try different things, to endure, to not let up, to keep pouring on the pace, the intensity. In the end what ever method you use, you have to say to yourself at some stage, "I am going to do this" or "I am going to slow down, or walk a bit or stop". Again don't get me wrong I've done it wrong plenty of times too. It just doesn't happen right all the time. But when it does happen remember it. Its a good exercise to go back over that race, and write down your thoughts, and how you felt, and use it as a template.

As our group is finding out, running marathons has a high degree of mental ability, and not just physical strength.

I have been following Scott Jurek for some years now. He is one of the best ultra marathon runners in the world, and here is something I pulled out of one of his interviews, and I guess it covers it pretty well.

"Pain is only temporary, it may last a minute, an hour, a day, a week, month, or a year. But eventually it will subside, and it will be replaced by something else. That something else is success. The ability to endure your pain, and to come out the other side a better person. But if you give up, slow down, or stop, that pain will last forever inside of you. You have to want success, and want it as much as the next breath of air. Push, push, push, 'till you go beyond that wall, where there is a never ending source of energy, and peace. The trouble is, most of us, never push hard enough.

Ironman Medals 1st, 10th(legend club) and my Hawaiian W/Champs 

Scott Jurek and Anulfo Quimire in Mexico