The Mind
During the many
arduous and also relaxed training sessions we undertake it is
not only the body we are developing but also the mind.
A sub 3hr
Marathon involves 42.2 consecutive kilometers at 4.15min/km. For
a strong majority of Marathoners 3hrs is the magical mark and to
run 2.59.59 (or better) is a huge achievement. Breaking 1hr for
10km can also be a common benchmark for some individuals and one
I equally respect.
Soul searching
Regardless of
the distance you are training for there is sure to be a certain
amount of soul searching on race day. If you set yourself a
challenging goal, mental toughness & the desire to achieve is
going to have to kick in.
It is amazing
how a runner can run 42.2km @ 4.15/km, reach the finish line and
not be able to run a step further. The mind finally says to the
body "That's it buddy, you have done your job, it's over".
110%
To allow your
mind to be fuelled with desire, allowing you to get 110% optimum
performance you need the following:
-
A long preparation: The longer your
campaign, the greater the number of training runs you are
going to have under your belt and excitement will grow as the
"weeks to go" tick down. Dusting off the runners and going for
your first training run 4 weeks out is going to leave you
feeling far less deserving on race day.
-
Not to over train:
There is a great deal to be said about being under done rather
than over cooked. Sure, it is important to dig deep maybe a
couple of times a week and also involve a couple of longer
runs however you don't want to fall into a stale/fatigued
state. It is up to yourself to determine if you need to
involve an additional rest day to allow your body (and mind)
to regroup & take a breather. Constant hammering and being a
slave to the training log book may look good on paper but if
you wake up physically and/or mentally tired on race day you have possibly run 2hrs or
more even before the gun is fired. Just as it is important to
pace yourself in a race it is also important to pace yourself
in your preparation.
-
The race: All
of my personal best times were run in races and there is no
way I could have come near any of my best performances in
training. This is not only because I rested to allow myself to
peak on race day. What race day offers all of us is an
opportunity to do something which is almost super human. An
opportunity to enter a magical realm where you tap into all of
your training and mentally explode with hunger to achieve your
goal.
I will soon be
releasing details about my "Countdown to Gold Coast"
Brisbane running group. This will involve a 15 week campaign
designed to allow that super human performance to take place on
July 3.
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