Alright, so we've got our speed cap (VO2max), our pace before we crash (Lactate Threshold), and our ability to hold the pace prior to crashing (Running Economy), but what happens after the crash begins. Well, I think the Psychobiological model of endurance running can help explain that:
The Psychobiological model is an effort-based decision model based on motivational intensity theory. The model states there are five factors that primarily determine regulation of pacing.
1) Perception of effort
2) Potential motivation
3) Knowledge of distance/time to cover
4) Knowledge of distance/time remaining
5) Previous experience/memory of perception of effort during exercise of varying intensity and duration
The potential motivation is defined, as the maximum effort a person is willing to exert to meet a certain task. The motivational intensity is the amount of effort that people actually expend to meet that task. The combination of these two ideas into the Motivational Intensity Theory creates the framework for why an individual will continue in a task: either the level of potential motivation hasn’t been reached or the task is still viewed as possible. A person will disengage from the task when either the perception of effort outweighs the potential motivation or the person believes they are physically unable to maintain the task (believed to maxed effort).
So what does this mean? Well we can have two people with the same LT pace. They can have equivalent economy and equivalent VO2max and yet they STILL might not finish at the same pace. Why? Because one is more WILLING to tolerate the pain/level of fatigue they're feeling. They might both be at a lactate concentration of 3.5 mmol/L (normal is around 1.0) and yet runner A might have a higher motivational reason for running and thus is willing to tolerate the feeling of 3.5 mmol/L of fatigue by products more so than runner B. Runner A keeps maintaining pace and Runner B succumbs to the feeling of fatigue and slows down.
So can we train our bodies to become more resistant to the feeling of fatigue? Can we alter our perception of effort and thus maintain this higher pain threshold? Yes, you can.
Dampeners of Perception of Effort (Factor 1)
Music
Essentially, it has been shown in many studies that by having music that is enjoyed, self-selected, and has a high bpm the overall perception of effort is decreased. This decreased perception of effort was connected with increased ability when used during races below the anaerobic threshold. I believe this is because in a 5K the physical limitations are what they are and the dampening of effort is ineffective. However, prior to a 5K using amping up music works by raising self confidence and HR. So pump up the jams and you'll reduce your perception of effort. You can run faster listening to music you like that has a high beats per minute.
Caffeine
Apparently an antagonist of adenosine which has a significant number of receptors in the brain that are responsible for sleep, memory, learning and cognition. Since caffeine occupies these receptors without actually activating them it is hypothesized that the perception of effort during endurance events is dampened and performance increases. An 11.2% improvement in performance was seen with a decreased perception of effort by using caffeine during running.
Self Talk
When one repeats positive messages to themselves its been shown to improve a test to exhaustion by almost 17%. So keep reminding yourself when you're running how awesome you're doing. Keep blocking out those negative thoughts. This is the main reason I race blind. I like to keep everything positive and I know from my personal experience that if I have GPS feedback on HR or pace that I'll freak out and start to have negative thoughts. By running blind I withhold that information from myself and thus keep those positive thoughts flowing.
Amplifiers of Perception of Effort (Factor 1)
Mental Fatigue
A study was conducted on cyclists that had to perform one of two simple tests. For a period of time prior to cycling the subjects had to state the color of the word. In group A, the color of the word matched the actual word (Word Blue was written in Blue ink), whereas the second group the word blue did not necessarily appear in the color blue. The second group was more mentally challenging, but in the grand scheme of mental tasks was not overly difficult. While the rate at which perception of effort increased equally, the starting point was significantly higher in the group who had to complete the “harder” mental task even though that task had no additional physical component. The harder mental task caused a decrease in performance by about 4% from the easier mental task. It is hypothesized that this harder mental task works in the same area of the brain as adenosine, which might explain the possible increase in perception of effort.
There was also another study similar to this one that put elites against normal cyclists. The small twist was adding in if the word was "red" it always had the answer of red regardless of the color of the word. So, it was like a third variable thrown at the cyclists. The elites were able to answer more words correctly, do it faster, and then afterwards had little to no difference between the easy task and hard task on its affect of a ride to exhaustion. Yet the normal person was slower on these tasks, got more wrong, and showed a large difference in how they responded on the cycle to exhaustion with after the easy task they performed better than after the hard task. So not only were the elite cyclists better cyclists, but they showed the ability to handle mental fatigue better than the normal cyclists.
So what does it mean for me and how can I use this information?
You can potentially decrease the perception of effort by:
-Listening to music you enjoy, makes you happy, and has a higher bpm.
-Use caffeine during exercise (I won’t do this one because caffeine gives me a headache).
-During the entire event use positive thinking. Consistently tell yourself how awesome you are and how awesome you are doing. If a negative thought comes in your head “Why did I sign up for this?” try to counter balance it with positive thoughts. Remember why you signed up for this. Remember how proud you are making someone in your life. Remember that you are rocking this!
-Reduce the amount of things you are thinking about prior to and during running. Set out your clothes in advance. Plan your driving route. Reduce your mental gymnastics by pre-planning as much as possible.
What about the other factors?
Potential Motivation
-One of my biggest motivators is trying to beat others. But something I’ve found for myself is this is self-dampened when there is a staggered start. It’s hard to know whether the person passing you is actually beating you or not because maybe they started ahead of you or behind you. But in a single start race it’s more likely when someone passes you they are actually head of you time wise as well. Are you going for that BQ? Are you going for a new PR? Do you have another race in three weeks and you're wiling to bag this one when it's not going well (a loss in motivation)?
Knowledge of Distance/Time to cover (Factor 3)
-This is hard to manipulate in an actual race because in almost all scenarios you usually know the duration/distance that is going to be covered.
Knowledge of Distance/Time remaining (Factor 4)
-I believe in running by effort and thus ignoring how you’ve been performing. I feel like in the past I have been overly negative during running when a mile split comes in at an unexpected slower pace. In this negative loop this causes me to start thinking about alternative finishing times. Then your goals start to slip away and your motivation wains. Without your motivation your perception of effort increases and makes everything feel harder than it would have been. As you can see I feel these are all connected in a cascade of events. To combat this, I ignore how I’ve been doing and just keep positive thoughts telling myself that I’m crushing it.
Previous experience/memory of perception of effort during exercise of varying intensity and duration (Factor 5)
-This one is physical and mental in my opinion. I believe this is where the training aspect of running comes in physically. The fitter you get the easier something feels. What was once tough is easier because your level of perception of effort has changed for that level of fitness.
-I follow this by trying to memorize what every run feels like. What does an easy run feel like? What does a marathon tempo feel like? What does a long run feel like? What does a full sprint feel like?
-Once you get to race day keep reminding yourself that this race is actually easier then some of your training runs. Keep telling yourself this is not that bad compared to that one training run you did.
