Mental Blocks

[joy2611]

How do you overcome a mental block in running?  Have you ever faced it?  How did you push through it?  What kind of method did you use?

I'm training for a ten miler (woo Broad Street!).  Previous to this, I've only run 5Ks.  I've been training since January and feel rather good with 5 weeks to go.  I can do 6-7 miles right now as long as I do interval running.  For me, this is 10 minute run, 1 minute walk, repeat six times.  Boom.  My times are totally fine (~10 min/miles, which is my goal) and I feel great the whole time.

God forbid I go out and run 4 miles straight, though.  I struggle mentally by focusing on the fact that there's no "break."  I don't feel physically tired.  I don't feel winded.  I just want. to. stop.  With the intervals if I start feeling tired, I can just say "A few more minutes, then you get a breather.  You'll make the next interval better!" and it works great.  Failing so miserably on the short runs is upsetting me; especially since I feel so awesome after a long interval run. 

Do you just tell yourself positive things?  Do you put on a good song?  I'm open for thoughts!

[Brit]

What about pushing the breaks out longer and longer? Or change them to a water stop (short, like a few gulps of water, then get running again) instead of a walk.

[foundmylazybum]

All I do is work on the mental side of performance--sport psychology.

Did you watch the winter Olympics? Like Snowboarding in the half pipe?

If you look really closely at this guy--you can see that everywhere his head goes--his body goes.

Well. Our mentality is a lot like this: Your body is going to do exactly what your mind tells it to do...You even know the answer to your own problem.

"I struggle mentally by focusing on the fact that there's no "break." I don't feel physically tired. I don't feel winded. I just want. to. stop."


You focus your mind on the fact that there is no break and then you say it more and more, and then what happens? Your body responds--and you do just that: you take a break.

What do you think about when you do your 10 min repeats? Do you have a "task" list that helps keep you focused? 

You might try transferring the thoughts and emotions you utilize in the 10 min repeats to running steady state. Slow down your pace to match the fact that you aren't resting...and when you get to the place where you would normally rest--instead of saying "Don't stop, don't quit, Ohhh no break that sucks!" Try saying, "Push through, run for 3 min more and see how I feel." Then evaluate at 3 min.  If you need a break---take one--but celebrate that you ran for 13 min instead of 10. That's awesome...then run for 13-15 more minutes--and do it by slowing down a bit physically and telling yourself "Push,  run for a bit more, see what I'm capable of" rather than focusing so much on the suck.

[thom]

FMLB -thanks for sharing all of that. On some level I know those things, but the way you explained it was helpful!

[foundmylazybum]

I would say that..80% of people I talk to know the concepts I talk about on some level or another. That's self awareness. But the next step is self-regulation and practicing mental skills as much as we practice our physical skills. ...we can practice effective thinking each time we hit the pavement! But we are used to doing bad habits..focusing on the wrong things etc..and it affects our performance.

[gt7301b]

Sometimes running is a total mind fuck. I try and focus on positive things rather than the negative. Instead of thinking "I want a break" I TRY and think "I CAN run two miles straight!!" Pretty much every time I run a 5K it sucks around mile 1.5 all I want to do it stop running, but I tell myself I can do anything for 12 more minutes.

[joy2611]

Thank you so much, everyone!! I'm sorry I didn't get back here to check responses sooner. I appreciate hearing what you say, especially foundmylazybum. Excellent thoughts!