Mind Behind the Run

Mugdha Baware, sports psychologist at Disha Councelling Centre says, “It is important to keep in mind what you are going to achieve at the end of the race. Your killer instinct will kick in making you give it your 200% best.”

That’s toward the end you say, but how about when it is toughest to begin? Girish Mallya, ultra runner and triathlon athlete agrees, “For me, waking up in the morning is the toughest bit; you can never be sure that it is going to be a good run. But, you get out there and after the first few kilometres, a rhythm sets in.”

The persistence of it stems from the physical and more importantly, the mental training, much before the actual run. It is a challenge that is common between the novice and ultra runner alike. Praful Uchil, is a co-founder of Striders, an athletic group, and has over twelve years of experience in the fitness industry. He says,  “When your mind goes out for a walk, that is when the thoughts set in and you begin to slow down. You need to get back and focus each time that happens. You just have to tell yourself ‘I have trained for it, I have to do it.’”

If the consistency of the run bogs you down, where you are set on the task in the beginning but tend to lose it along the way, it might feel like you are exhausted but it doesn’t mean that you are going to fall apart.

Focusing, chanting a mantra or repeating positive thoughts work, but there is something beyond yourself that can help you push beyond that threshold too. Dr. Aditya Daftari, Radiologist and runner, shares, “It helps to have friends in the sports and rehab space, to make you believe you can do it. But to run for a cause that inspires me, that is what sees me through the last few lengths of my run.”

This time you step out for a run, and your mind tricks you into believing, ‘it is okay to slow down, you are tired now,’ outwit it, talk back to it or work around it. And at the end of that run, the rush you will feel, will beat any though of pain you have ever felt, just like John Milton in Paradise Lost said, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Hell of Heav’n, a Heav’n of Hell.”

MOTIVATE YOURSELF
Create a training schedule so you keep track of how much time you devote to the sport.
Make a log of your timings and check if you are improving as you train. Compare these with a friend’s, who enjoys running as much as you do.
If you are panicking before D-day, try some breathing exercises. It is important to sleep well on the days before your footrace.