Daily Tip #4: Train Your Brain

For the last several months, you’ve been training your body to handle the demands of a 26.2-mile race. You’ve been putting in your long runs and increasing your mileage, hydrating and fueling, and trying to get adequate rest and recovery. But just as important as physical training is what goes on in your mind. Your internal dialogue, what you tell yourself leading up to and on the day of the race, will have a tremendous influence on your performance.

“There are two ways to run and to think about it,” says Mindy Solkin, running coach, personal trainer, and founder of The Running Center. “Association, and disassociation.” Association is thinking about what you’re doing at that moment. Disassociation is distracting yourself by thinking about something else.

Many runners new to the sport tend to disassociate, Solkin says. They focus on the external stimuli of their environment—the weather or their conversation with their training partners, for example. Or they disassociate by turning inward and occupying themselves with personal matters—balancing their checkbook, for example, or mentally rearranging their living room.

Solkin prefers that runners tune in to their activity. “I like my runners to associate,” she says. “Focus on your body, really feel your form—your stride, your posture, your breathing.” Known as mindfulness, or being in the moment, association “develops much more control and focus,” Solkin said.

Once you’re aware of these different mental states, you can use them to your advantage during racing and training.

During the marathon, it’s good to alternate between disassociation and association. Enjoy the bands and the crowds—they’ll help you get through the rough spots. But it’s important to stay tuned in to your body, even when you experience pain. “You want to know where the pain is coming from, and what might be the possible cause,” says Solkin. “Is the pain due to your form, or are you off balance because you’re running on the camber of the road? If you disassociate and think that’s going to make the pain go away, you’re wrong. It won’t.”

While training, staying present and associating will help you manage pre-race stress. With all the anticipation that accompanies marathon training, it’s easy to get trapped in a pattern of worry, which is, essentially, disassociating. After all, thinking about the congestion at the marathon start while you’re on a four-mile training run is just as disassociative as balancing your checkbook. Excessive, out-of-control worry can be an energy-zapper. Instead, set aside time to think about how you will handle problems when they do arise and also imagine your best-case, best race scenario.

To help you, become familiar with the course. There is a great site provided by the Richmond Times Dispatch that has mile-by-mile photos and decriptions. If you have not visited this yet, please take time to do it. I sounds silly, but it takes your mind of your run when you can look around like you are on a scavenger hunt looking for things.

It’s true: The Richmond Marathon course is hilly compared to Rocky Mount, with long roads and potential gusts of wind. But it’s also true that with the right mindset, you can handle whatever this race dishes out.