Mental strategies/positive thoughts for helping you get to the finish line

[irishtwins1112]

I was giving this some thought today. Some of the phrases I intend to focus on when I do my next long run and then finally the Marathon in January are:
Keep Moving!
Point A to Point B!

When encountering hills:
Kill the Hill!!!!!

If enduring injury on race day:
You can stand anything for (insert amount of time you have left until you are done with the race).

For the Marathon I intend to break it up into 6 parts:
Miles 1-13 (easy.... you have done this before plenty of times)
Miles 14-20 (just a 10K on tired legs.... you can do this!)
Miles 21-23 (get to mom and brothers spectating in MGM)
Miles 24-25 (get to hubs and babies spectating on Boardwalk)
Mile 26-to end (Savor it and finish strong!)

Would anyone else like to share their mental strategies/positive thoughts for racing?

 

[jimandami]

I am actually thinking of making a list of 26 of my friends/family members and dedicated a mile to each one. During that mile, I will think of things we have done together and why they are important to me...the time will just fly by, right?

 

[irishtwins1112]

I am actually thinking of making a list of 26 of my friends/family members and dedicated a mile to each one. During that mile, I will think of things we have done together and why they are important to me...the time will just fly by, right?

Good idea! I may do that for a few miles. If I tried to do it for all 26, I would just forget who was which mile because I am so absent-minded. Maybe I will dedicate one to my Dad. I wanted him to be able to be there but he can't because of his work schedule.

 

[jimandami]

Good idea! I may do that for a few miles. If I tried to do it for all 26, I would just forget who was which mile because I am so absent-minded. Maybe I will dedicate one to my Dad. I wanted him to be able to be there but he can't because of his work schedule.

Yeah, I haven't decided how I am going to remember whose mile is whose...still working on that!

 

[cewait]

Yeah, I haven't decided how I am going to remember whose mile is whose...still working on that!

Pace band with initials...

Cliff unsually has them at the expo.

 

[irishtwins1112]

Pace band with initials...

Cliff unsually has them at the expo.

Awesome! Didn't think of that.

 

[cewait]

I was giving this some thought today. Some of the phrases I intend to focus on when I do my next long run and then finally the Marathon in January are:
Keep Moving!
Point A to Point B!

When the going gets real tough – Just make it to the next street light. Or even tougher – Just get to the next crack.

When encountering hills:
Kill the Hill!!!!!

I tend to do this but when you crest the top… Think just keep moving and feel the speed

If enduring injury on race day:
You can stand anything for (insert amount of time you have left until you are done with the race).

Actually, as a coach I do not condone running through injury… as a runner – Pain is temporary but the glory is forever!

For the Marathon I intend to break it up into 6 parts:
Miles 1-13 (easy.... you have done this before plenty of times)

Great one – though for my it’s landmarks – Toll Booth, Water Bridge, Main, Mary Poppins, The Evil Step Mom’s Corner, Elephant Poo, AK Gate.

Miles 14-20 (just a 10K on tired legs.... you can do this!)

Traditionally the tough section on Osceola but.. Parking Exit, Buena Vista Overpass (McFreeze), orld Overpass, Victory Way, WWoS, Stadium, Victory Way

Miles 21-23 (get to mom and brothers spectating in MGM)

Ugh, Osceola Again, Look at those poor runners on the other side, World, HILL, and down, HILL, ToT and Chocolate, Where’s the parade?

Miles 24-25 (get to hubs and babies spectating on Boardwalk)

(From my Friend Wendy) – Yacht Club, Beach Club, Epcot, Home!

Mile 26-to end (Savor it and finish strong!)

The Gospel Choir will carry you home

Would anyone else like to share their mental strategies/positive thoughts for racing?

Great Idea… There are literally hundreds of things one can do. Let’s face it, 4-7 hours with little to do but think creates unusual thoughts. It is good to have a plan developed through training that has worked to carry you through your tough runs.

For me, I tend to get chatty when I am feeling the run. Sometimes I actually answer myself. In the last half of a marathon I will reach over and tap a fellow runner on the shoulder and say something positive. (Definitely not the patented spectator looking good or only xx miles). I find that this will shock them back into the day and they generally become a wingman for a while. This is a pay it forward effort as I will have a runner or two tap me on the shoulder as they re-pass.
For the last 5 years I have started growing a group of runners as we hit Yacht Club. I will tap one or two on the shoulder and get them back up on pace - challenging them to run the flats. This soon becomes a pied piper affair where we have possibly 30+ runners forming a group as we hit back stage Epcot. It’s kind of unique as no one really drops off pace once a certain number of runners is hit. It kills me since I am the instigator and I feel like there is no way I could drop off once we hit the hill in Epcot.

Thanks for starting

 

[ironz]

I like to break races up into sections, too. Start to MK, MK to GF, etc.

Funny comment on the "mile per person" thing...I did something similar for my last Ironman, knowing it was going to be a tough run. I had in a little baggie (with my gels and stuff) the names of people, or songs, or phrases to think about for each mile. Can I tell you, the Ironman Canada run course is VERY dark when the sun goes down! Not much light, even at aid stations, so I couldn't read the names later! Had to dig through on my own mental strength (very difficult when it's dark and there are hardly any other runner...WDW will be much more social!).

My hill thing is "make this hill your b****"...sorry, not very family friendly.

 

[jimandami]

Pace band with initials...

Cliff unsually has them at the expo.

Thx Coach!

 

[ironz]

For the last 5 years I have started growing a group of runners as we hit Yacht Club. I will tap one or two on the shoulder and get them back up on pace - challenging them to run the flats. This soon becomes a pied piper affair where we have possibly 30+ runners forming a group as we hit back stage Epcot. It’s kind of unique as no one really drops off pace once a certain number of runners is hit. It kills me since I am the instigator and I feel like there is no way I could drop off once we hit the hill in Epcot.
Thanks for starting

Charles..this sounds a little like what tri coach Rich Strauss has said in the past....at the end of Ironman races, there are usually a lot of people walking and it is easy to just slow down and walk with them so you have company. So what Rich says is...if you end up in one of those groups, YOU lead them! Don't slow to their pace, try to pull them up to yours (assuming you still have some energy). Make the whole group do better!

 

[liznboys]

Great thread!

This past Monday was my first time doing 20 miles. It was daunting. I was definitely intimidated.

I have an approximately 5 mile loop in my neighborhood that I do when I run. So to make things seem easier, my thought was "4 loops". It was much easier mentally for me to have "1 out of 4 done", than "1 out of 20 done" etc.

So I know I will break the full up, too. Not sure exactly how, yet. I need to study the race map some more.

Plus, I don't run with any music, I've just gotten used to not having it. I do run sometimes with friends (so, someone to talk to and pass time) but they aren't training for a full so they aren't with me for my long runs, or at least not the entire length of them. (I was alone for the whole 20 on Monday.) I am so used to my own thoughts and looking at the same houses in my neighborhood over and over and over that the Disney sights and sounds make the time fly! So I guess that "strategy" is to make training boring so that the Disney races are even more fun/easier mentally. Lol!

 

[irishtwins1112]

I am hoping so. That was my favorite part when I finished 2008.

Charles..this sounds a little like what tri coach Rich Strauss has said in the past....at the end of Ironman races, there are usually a lot of people walking and it is easy to just slow down and walk with them so you have company. So what Rich says is...if you end up in one of those groups, YOU lead them! Don't slow to their pace, try to pull them up to yours (assuming you still have some energy). Make the whole group do better!

Yeah. I am a slowpoke recovering from injury so I will be at the back. It would be awesome to have the strength to muster a 15 mpm "pace group" towards the end........or maybe I will join in with someone else's pace. Who knows what race day will bring?

Great thread!

This past Monday was my first time doing 20 miles. It was daunting. I was definitely intimidated.

I have an approximately 5 mile loop in my neighborhood that I do when I run. So to make things seem easier, my thought was "4 loops". It was much easier mentally for me to have "1 out of 4 done", than "1 out of 20 done" etc.

So I know I will break the full up, too. Not sure exactly how, yet. I need to study the race map some more.

Plus, I don't run with any music, I've just gotten used to not having it. I do run sometimes with friends (so, someone to talk to and pass time) but they aren't training for a full so they aren't with me for my long runs, or at least not the entire length of them. (I was alone for the whole 20 on Monday.) I am so used to my own thoughts and looking at the same houses in my neighborhood over and over and over that the Disney sights and sounds make the time fly! So I guess that "strategy" is to make training boring so that the Disney races are even more fun/easier mentally. Lol!

No music! I would die. I have to have music! The last time I attempted the marathon I brought a spare mp3 player in my race belt just in case my Ipod got dropped and died or something. Music really helps my pace. I like to chat while running but my pace suffers when I do it too much. I have to be very deliberate to maintain 15-16 minutes per mile.

 

[liznboys]

... No music! I would die. I have to have music! The last time I attempted the marathon I brought a spare mp3 player in my race belt just in case my Ipod got dropped and died or something. Music really helps my pace. I like to chat while running but my pace suffers when I do it too much. I have to be very deliberate to maintain 15-16 minutes per mile.

I know, I know, people can't believe I can run for so long with no music! Here's a funny thing, so on my Monday 20 miler the last song I heard on the radio before I began that morning was Frosty the Snowman sung by the Beach Boys. So I had that song in my head and it played over and over. It actually has a good beat to it and it is right at my particular running pace (I do run/walk) so it was nice! I guess I have a built in ipod in my brain. lol! Which sometimes is awful when I have a song I don't like stuck in there!

 

[Reep]

Bad Race:

1-10: Relax
11-20: Don't give up
21-26.2: Everybody else is tired too

Good Race (at WDW):

1-7: Relax
8-17: Stay on your form (cadence, stride, etc.)
18-22: Keep going, Hollywood Studios is almost here
23-25: Hold on
25-26.2: take your victory lap around the world

 

[Reep]

No music! I would die. I have to have music! The last time I attempted the marathon I brought a spare mp3 player in my race belt just in case my Ipod got dropped and died or something. Music really helps my pace. I like to chat while running but my pace suffers when I do it too much. I have to be very deliberate to maintain 15-16 minutes per mile.

I'm just the opposite. I like listening to music when I train, but if I was racing I would be tempted to keep pace with the music and not run at my optimal turnover. I can't get myself to run at a different cadence from the music and there are very few songs that are the perfect 180 beats/minute.

 

[steph0808]

I know, I know, people can't believe I can run for so long with no music! Here's a funny thing, so on my Monday 20 miler the last song I heard on the radio before I began that morning was Frosty the Snowman sung by the Beach Boys. So I had that song in my head and it played over and over. It actually has a good beat to it and it is right at my particular running pace (I do run/walk) so it was nice! I guess I have a built in ipod in my brain. lol! Which sometimes is awful when I have a song I don't like stuck in there!

I never listen to music when I run - I found that I tried to go on the beat, which messed up my pace, and I would sing along, which would mess up my breathing.

So it's just me and my thoughts on the trail. 19 miles this weekend for me (thinking of turning it into a 20).

I like to do math on the trail - oh, I am running at an 11:10 pace right now. If I ran an 11:10 pace consistently for the whole marathon, what would my finishing time be? etc.

My one thing that always makes me feel better is smack talking drivers if I am running on the road. I know it is awful, but it makes me feel so much better about myself! Hey dude - maybe you should get out here and run with me instead of sitting on your butt eating those French fries. Hey lady - maybe if you take your cell phone out of your one hand and the cigarette out of the other, you could drive better! etc.

It's fun.

 

[FFigawi]

Would anyone else like to share their mental strategies/positive thoughts for racing?

The mental strategy I recommend to all of the people in our running group who are just trying to make sure they finish is to divide the marathon into three parts:

miles 1-10 - this is when you shake out the cobwebs, go nice and easy, and think of it as "only a 10-mile long run"
miles 11-20 - this is when you're feeling good, settled into your groove, and running at a nice and steady pace
miles 21-26.2 - this is just a 10k. After all the 16 and 18-mile long runs you've done, a 10k is a piece of cake. Check in with yourself, and if you feel good, then pick up the pace and start passing people. Nothing is more motivational at the end than passing people while you feel strong.

The mental strategy for racing is a bit different. That's when I tell people to settle into your goal pace as quickly as possible. Get comfortable in your pacing and start cruising. It'll feel really easy at first, but don't speed up. Hold that pace as long as you possibly can. Around mile 18, it'll start to feel a bit harder. That's when it's time to just dig deep and focus on nothing but pushing hard and getting to the finish line as fast as you can. At mile 22, if the hurt and burn aren't too bad, it's time to pick it up as much as you can and go for it.

 

[liznboys]

... I like to do math on the trail - oh, I am running at an 11:10 pace right now. If I ran an 11:10 pace consistently for the whole marathon, what would my finishing time be? etc.

I do that too! Only the pace I'm thinking of is higher than 11:10.

My one thing that always makes me feel better is smack talking drivers if I am running on the road. I know it is awful, but it makes me feel so much better about myself! Hey dude - maybe you should get out here and run with me instead of sitting on your butt eating those French fries. Hey lady - maybe if you take your cell phone out of your one hand and the cigarette out of the other, you could drive better! etc.

It's fun.

Whatever works!

 

[joan4mickey]

I like to do math on the trail - oh, I am running at an 11:10 pace right now. If I ran an 11:10 pace consistently for the whole marathon, what would my finishing time be? etc.

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http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/4/4_1/96.shtml

 

[Dug720]

For my long training runs, I listen to audio books. Being able to get lost in a story makes the miles go by quicker (or at least it seems like it).

I use different mantras while I'm running a marathon or half marathon.

My standard is: Be strong! Embrace power!

On my way to Chicago this fall, I read "In A Single Bound" by Sarah Reinertsen and took up "I'mua" which basically means keep moving forward in Hawaiian. Definitely used that one when the going got extremely tough, and it helped most of the time.