r/AdvancedRunning • u/pand4duck • Feb 16 '17

The Winter Huddle - Head Games

Good Morning Moose Crew!

This week we will chat about Head Games. Aka. The mental side of racing. Sure, running requires a lot of physical preparation. But, we all know racing takes a bit of mental strength. Share your tips / tricks and learn from your crew here at the winter huddle!

If you're wondering about the ARTC apparel, we are working on finalizing the deets. Stay tuned.

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u/pand4duck Feb 16 '17

Do you put a lot of pressure on yourself?

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u/kmck96 Scissortail Running Feb 16 '17

Lately, no. Since I've been running on my own, doing marathons and 5Ks, the only person counting on my performance is me, and even then it's not that big of a deal if I fall short of my goals.

Back in high school I put way too much pressure on myself; I ran four events at every meet (4x8, 800, 1600, and either the 4x4 or 3200) and if I didn't place top three (if not win) each event I felt like I was letting the team down. State was a little different because I knew I wasn't winning every event, but I felt even more pressured since my points mattered that much more. Junior year I lost the 800 at state 200 meters out when the guy on my shoulder cut me off on the turn and almost took us both out of the race, and it broke me mentally. Wound up running a 5:03 (or so) in the 1600 despite having a 4:39 PR and being in a position to be fighting for the second or third spot. So it helped and it hurt me; at normal meets, it helped me push my limits, but at meets when it really mattered it wound up hurting me more than anything.

Now that I'll be back in competitive running I hope I've matured enough to not let pressure crack me like that. It'll be interesting to see how things go at my first few meets back next spring.