STRATEGIES TO BREAK COMMON MENTAL BARRIERS

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STRATEGIES TO BREAK COMMON MENTAL BARRIERS
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A STRONG MIND MAKES AN EVEN STRONGER RUNNER

• TIME TO BREAK THE MENTAL BARRIERS THAT COULD HOLD
  YOUR PERFORMANCE BACK

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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO ON A BIG RACE DAY?

• Give yourself a positive self talk
• Focus on the coming race
• Keep your concentration during the race
• BUT this is the final stage of all your
  training.
• Its all about preparing yourself

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PREPARING YOURSELF

• Strengthening your mind is as important as
  strengthening your body.
• Sometimes our minds create barriers which we need
  to overcome.
• We are going to look at some tools to help you
  face these challenges.

Each negative idea can be met with a positive
solution
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The first mental barrier
I am underperforming and dont believe Im
making progress.
Think of it as a challenge, not a barrier!
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WHATS HAPPENING?
You want success quickly and so put pressure on
yourself. This makes you nervous and unsure of
your talents.
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Your Strategy

• Keep a diary
• Write a positive comment each week about training
  or your race.
• Write a comment on something to sort out in the
  following week each week youre becoming a
  better runner.
• The diary is a growing record of how you are
  improving.

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DOWNLOAD OUR DIARY YOU CAN DO IT!
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The second mental barrier
I cannot handle the pain barrier.
Think of it as a challenge, not a barrier!
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WHATS HAPPENING?
The brain always gives up before the
body! Unless you're used to pushing yourself to
the limit, your brain will try to convince you to
give up when it gets hard dont give up.
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What the experts say

• There are two essential strategies when feeling
  pain the technical terms are Dissociation
• Association
• dissociating means to separate yourself from the
  pain by distracting yourself away from it
• associating means to actually focus on the
  feeling of pain and make it push you further

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Your strategy

• To associate -- start from the head and work
  down, assessing each area or group of muscles
• Keep your running speed in line with the
  information you gain from your body monitoring,
  from heart rate to basic breathing
• Do not be afraid to increase the pace if you feel
  particularly positive.
• To dissociate -- focus more on your surroundings
  - the sounds, sights and smells - and let them
  distract you (but only temporarily).

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What the experts say

• The most successful runners switch between the
  two
• You should use association during the more
  crucial sections of a race and dissociation at
  times where you can give yourself a break from
  the tough mental demands
• Associating for long periods simply isn't
  possible, as the mind wanders.

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The third mental barrier
My performances are ruined by pre-race nerves.
Think of it as a challenge, not a barrier!
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WHATS HAPPENING?
"The reason you're so nervous is that you're
panicking about what might happen in the future,
rather controlling it.
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Your strategy

• Try structured belly breathing
• Breathe in your nose to a count of three, pause,
  then slowly breathe out through your mouth for a
  count of four.
• Lets try it !
• This puts you into the calm zone where athletes
  are able to perform at their best.

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What the experts say

• -

When you are nervous, short, staccato breathing
floods your respiratory system with carbon
dioxide, which means your brain and muscles
aren't getting the oxygen they need to function
properly. Deep, long breaths activate the
parasympathetic nervous system, slowing down your
heart rate and reducing anxiety.
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The fourth mental barrier
My last race was bad and Ive lost my
motivation.
Think of it as a challenge, not a barrier!
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WHATS HAPPENING?
Your bad result has dented your pride. Not long
after you started running being a runner probably
became a part of your self-image -- and how
friends see you.
Your idea of yourself as The Good Runner' that
your friends know is cancelled in your own mind
through one bad race.
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Your strategy

• First get to the root cause of your poor
  performance the weather, a poorly executed race
  plan - and release your frustration by talking
  about it.
• Moan to as many people as will listen to get it
  right out of your system. Now congratulate
  yourself for having the courage to take risks.
• Accept your mistakes as good learning
  experiences!

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The fifth mental barrier
I keep worrying about an injury that could hold
me back.
Think of it as a challenge, not a barrier!
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WHATS HAPPENING?
Your brain is behaving like an over-protective
mum! You build up a defence system which makes
you want to prevent new injuries so you will
always be holding back.
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What the experts say

• -

People develop a defensive memory function to
help prevent them from re-injuring themselves.
Until those negative memories are replaced with
the confidence that your injury is fully healed,
you'll always be holding back! Recent races
training prove this! You'll also potentially be
risking fresh damage. "Anxiety leads to muscle
tension, which can result in new injuries."
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Your strategy

• You must take your know-how of the injury up a
  gear to gain mental control by doing some
  research.
• Learn to visualise the problem area(s) by
  becoming familiar with anatomical drawings of the
  muscles of the body.
• Being able to see' the muscles widening and
  lengthen as you run will encourage them to relax,
  which in turn will ward off the tension that
  causes them to tighten and fatigue!

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The sixth mental barrier
I always tail off when I seem to be performing
well.
Think of it as a challenge, not a barrier!
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WHATS HAPPENING?
Some people develop a fear of success. For some
its lacking the confidence to challenge the way
things are.

• Others fear that if theyre successful theyll
  have to take the sport too seriously that too
  much will be expected of them or even they will
  be resented by others.

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Your strategy

• Acknowledge that your fear exists then pump
  yourself up with positive affirmation. See
  yourself accepting success.
• Dont be overmodest. When someone says Nice
  race reply with 'Thanks, I worked hard for
  it'--rather than I was lucky, or I should've
  done better.
• Build up your self-belief. You'll encourage
  others to do the same, developing a positive,
  constructive communication between runners in
  your circle. This will increase your
  self-esteem, giving you confidence in the next
  race!

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The seventh mental barrier
I lose focus in races.
Think of it as a challenge, not a barrier!
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WHATS HAPPENING?
During a race our senses bombard us with
information. Being stressed can cause us to cut
out important information, such as the position
of a competitor.
Or we can be so relaxed (or determined to shut
out the stress) that we begin to focus too much
on things that are superfluous to our
performance.
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Your strategy

• Take your cue from breathe, talk and race
• Breathe is your cue to focus on the movement
  of your chest, which should instantly take you
  away from the distraction.
• The 'talk' element uses an instructional cue
  word, such as 'relax', 'rhythm' or '100 per
  cent'.
• Lastly, focus on your 'race' - your splits,
  breathing, strategy. This process brings you back
  into the here and now, where good concentration
  always needs to be.

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Testing your brainpower

• I am underperforming and dont believe Im
  making progress.
• Keep a running diary of improvements
• I cant handle the pain barrier.
• Use a combination of association and dissocation

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• My performances are ruined by pre-race nerves.
• Use controlled belly breathing
• My last race was bad and Ive lost my
  motivation.
• Talk about your mistakes so that you can learn
  from them
• I keep worrying about an injury that could hold
  me back.
• Research and visualise your injuries

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What was your score out of 7?

• I always tail off when I seem to be performing
  well.
• Think positively to build your self esteem and
  confidence
• I lose focus in races.
• Use the Breathe, Talk and Race routine.

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A STRONG MIND MAKES AN EVEN STRONGER RUNNER

• Learn to control your negative feelings
• Have self-belief.
• You can do it!