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tristan8 · Lurker Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 7

Hey Everyone,

I want to talk a bit about the imortance of training your mind for a marathon and how much of an advantage you can give yourself if you have the right mind set when running a marathon.

You can do all the work physically but it is your mental preparation that puts the physical side into action. I can not think of a sporting event that would require more mental preparation than a marathon. I have heard time and time again people tell me they feel physically fit to complete 5 or 6 marathons a year, they just mentally couldnt do it.

So how can you prepare mentally for a marathon? Well it is pretty easy really, you have to train your mind to deal with the situations of a marathon. It is best to find a nice quiet place by yourself, somewhere you will not be disturbed and go through the race in your mind. Actually visualize yourself running the whole marathon, every mile and see yourself doing it successfully and feeling great at the finish line. You should visualise your perfect race, just imagine everything going right for you , imagine making great time, breaking new records just visualise your dream run.

Being mentally prepared is a huge factor in marathon running especially if you are completing your first marathon. I would be interested to hear how other people mentally train for a marathon.

Tristan
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Dan · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:07 pm Post subject:

I'm actually of the opinion that the longer the race, the more the preparation shifts from mental to physical. Shorter stuff requires a very specific state of mind at the start, whereas something as long as the marathon lets your mind wander all over the place. Prepare yourself to handle the training and then just take it a mile at a time on race day...

Dan
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Angelo Z · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:50 am Post subject:

I personally find it easy if you count down the distance as you run. If you keep running continuously without checking your distance, it will seem like it takes forever and boredom sets in. If you count down, miles will fly by so fast that you can't believe you will already be at mile 20.
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tristan8 · Lurker Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 7

Having done some long runs will of give you a sense of confidence anyway. Its funny how when you start training for the first time running 10 miles non stop seems like a huge deal but once you get to the end of your training 10 miles is no big deal. I like to think of the training ive done to keep me going through a marathon. If iv only got 6 miles left im like cmon 6 miles is nothing ive done it a million times lets just keep going. So yeah its funny how your mind works.
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Angelo Z · Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 7:17 am Post subject:

The only thing I fear are stitches. They are the only things that stop me from running.
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AM_Runner · All-Star Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 776 Location: NYC

Well there is one thing you and I disagree on then dan. Physically both are demanding in different ways - both are also mentally demanding - also in different ways.

For the Marathon it really is necessary to manitain concentration for a long period of time - letting your mind wander is a very dangerous thing to do in a race - losing that "mental edge" can lead to a very painful conclusion - you may either go to hard thinking you are just feeling good and wind up for a very rude awakening late in the race, or lose focus and miss your time goal. the nice thing about it is that small dalliances can be made up (depending on where they happen in the race) because of the distance.

Focus is important in both races...

As far as mentally training for them I find it helpful to do runs at race pace and concentrate on how it "feels" I like to do Mile repeats on the track so I can get quicker feed back... so run a few miles and concentrate on the pace then basically mess with it run slow off pace let your self drift a bit. then focus and see if you can get back on pace within 400M same with hammering one too fast...
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tristan8 · Lurker Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 7

Dan · Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:11 pm Post subject:

I'm not quite sure what word I'm looking for, but there's a difference between concentration and focus. In a short event, such as the 400 or 800, you make one wrong move and the race is over. In the marathon, that is rarely the case, unless it's a very bad move. For this reason, shorter events require a different focus heading into the race, with a plan for everything that might happen. Things happen slower in a marathon, so you can afford to improvise a bit. That's what I meant by letting your mind wander.

Keep in mind, the longest race I've ever run is a 12k, so what do I know? Wink

Dan
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Angelo Z · Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 5:47 pm Post subject:

Why doesn't anyone sprint the last 100m in a marathon? All I see is that 2 people are 5 feet away from eachother, and the one who gets 2nd place did not even bother to sprint the final.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

AM_Runner · All-Star Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 776 Location: NYC

I know what you mean Dan - yes there is time to make things up but lets just say take it from someone who has run a few of them sometimes thats easier said than done... I also said there that it is totlly a different focus or concentration in the marathon than those other events (I was a quarter miler myself back in the day)

one mistake there (or in my curent fave the 3000 M steeple) and the race is over for you...
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AM_Runner · All-Star Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 776 Location: NYC

And Angelo - lets just say you have not seen enough races to make that comment
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Dan · Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 12:31 pm Post subject:

Gotcha. Sounds like we're on the same page.

Dan
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Angelo Z · Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:33 pm Post subject:

Ok well, I finally saw one with accurate times. The winner actually ran a much faster mile towards the end, and his 100m ended up as 13 something seconds. I think it is because it appears as if they are running slower on the road instead on a track. That was purely my zero-evident bogus comment.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

Indeurr · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:14 pm Post subject:

Angelo Z · Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:31 am Post subject:

When I watched Haile running the WR marathon, it looked like he was just jogging at the end, maybe it's because they didn't put a side view for me to see his strides at the last 100m.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

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