Preparing for the London Marathon
London Marathon Mental Training – Race Day
The day has finally arrived. You’ve put
in the miles, your blisters are patched up and you’re ready
to go. Or are you? You spent many mornings and evenings treading
the roads, building your physical fitness, but how much thought
have you given to your mental fitness on the day? How are you
going to deal with those last minute nerves, or that sudden loss
of self-belief that happens so often in a race, or the infamous
“brick wall” you’ve heard so much about? These
are all things that happen in any endurance event, and the more
prepared you are for them, the less they are likely to negatively
affect your performance.
There are two main areas of concern in a marathon: physical fatigue
(just plain getting tired!) and mental attitude (“I’m
not going to make it”). Hopefully your hard training has
softened the possibility of too much effect from physical fatigue,
but the importance of a good mental attitude in addition to this
cannot be understated. You’re going to be challenged mentally
perhaps more than you ever have been before, but if you’ve
prepared for it you’ll be able to deal with it and finish
the day with a smile! So here are some top tips for staying on
track mentally during the marathon:
1. Be Prepared!
The old scouting motto is just as applicable to a marathon. If
you feel prepared you’re going to start off much more confidently
and positively than if you just leave everything to the last minute.
Make sure you have all your gear ready at least a day or two before,
work out exactly how you’re going to get there, what time
you need to be at different places, where you’re going to
meet your family or friends afterwards, and so on. Come race day,
the last thing you want to be doing is panicking trying to find
your lucky shoelace! Make sure you’ve read all the runner
info and instructions you may have been sent beforehand, so you
know exactly where you need to be and what you need to be doing
on the day.
2. Stay Positive
And so the race is about to start, and the nerves kick in. In
the last column on training for the marathon, I talked about relaxation
and creating a Winning Image. This is about teaching yourself
how to relax and visualising yourself completing the marathon
successfully, and should be used at any time you feel any doubt
about this happening. You’ll find this especially useful
during the race when your legs start to tire and you feel you
may not make it – just conjure up your Winning Image and
focus on it for the next mile to give yourself that push you need.
You may like to think of a cue or trigger word that automatically
reminds you of your Winning Image and a positive frame of mind,
should you find yourself thinking negatively.
3. Dissociate
During the race your legs are going to tire, your heart and lungs
will feel like they’re about to burst, and your feet will
start to hurt and you’ll want to stop and give up. You’ve
probably been through some of these feelings many times during
training, and you got through that ok, so bear that in mind during
the race. At this point you may start to spend a lot of time monitoring
your body and feeling all the aches and pains – if you find
yourself doing this all the time, try to distract yourself by
dissociating yourself from the discomfort. Pick your head up and
look around, taking in the scenery and the crowds, and enjoy the
atmosphere. Check in on your body every now and then, but for
the most part focus externally. You may also like to listen to
music along the way, which can be a great help in taking your
mind off things, so take your MP3 player along. You’re more
likely to be able to get past the wall if you hit it this way,
though of course you will also need to ensure you are properly
hydrated and fuelled. If you do start to struggle, some people
find visualising themselves running freely and easily, perhaps
as a horse or a gazelle, helps - some even visualise those they
are running for with their hands on their back pushing them on.
You may be surprised at how powerful such imagery can be.
4. Split up the race
26 miles seems a long way, but 5 miles isn’t nearly as
far. By splitting the race up into sections, you can create mini
goals to aim for, rather than aiming for a single large goal.
If 5 miles seems too much, you can split it down even further,
perhaps to 1 mile or reaching a particular landmark you can see
along the route. As you do each bit by bit, you’ll soon
find you’ve covered a nice chunk of the distance.
5. Prepare for the worst
I often encourage sportspeople to develop “What If?”
scenarios to help them deal with unexpected situations. This goes
back to my first point about being prepared – if you expect
the unexpected, then it can’t jump out and bite you. Think
about what you might do if you needed a toilet break, how you
will deal with running out of steam, perhaps if you trip over
and lose your concentration – try to come up with strategies
for dealing with all sorts of unforeseen situations, so that if
they do happen you’re not caught by surprise.
And finally…
Stick to your race plan. It’s all too easy to get caught
up in the excitement and race along trying to keep up with the
person you’ve just met at the start line, but that’s
not necessarily your race, and you’ll struggle to keep your
mind focused if you’re focused on someone else.
And to get you into the spirit of the Marathon, here's a great
video from Tom from the 2005 Marathon.
Enjoy the race!
Part 1: The Training
Programme
More articles >
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