train your mind to run
Maintaining a good balance between mind and body is essential in the practice of any sport. The mind training. Although it is given less importance than the physical, it is very necessary when we go out for a run, since our only companions on the road are ourselves and what surrounds us. We can be our greatest motivation or our worst enemy.
In today's post we give you the keys so that you and your mind are the best allies while you run.
WHAT IS MENTAL TRAINING?
Mental training is a mechanism we use to keep the mind active before and during sports practice. Thanks to him, we reach a state of mind that allows us to be aware of our capabilities and limitations in order to trace a route in our brain that is destined to achieve our purpose.
It is as important to train the body as the mind, because sometimes, when we do not finish a race, it is not due to muscle fatigue or physical exhaustion, but because we are not motivated or concentrated enough.
The ability to resist fatigue, relativize the time we have left to reach the goal or remain faithful to the objective that we have set for ourselves, are points that shape the power that this brain training gives us, and that can be achieve by following a few simple steps.
One positive thing about the age we live in is that we now place much more importance on our state of mind than before. Techniques such as Mindfulness are increasingly present in our day to day and in our philosophy of life. Being fully aware of what we live in, what surrounds us and taking advantage of the present moment have become mantras that we try to apply now more than ever. The world of running has also somehow acquired this mentality and meditation, reflection and motivation techniques are beginning to be used to strengthen the mind and be able to withstand not only physically, but also mentally, the races we are going to. we face.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR MIND IF YOU ARE STARTING TO RUN
Taking the step of starting to run already implies a will and the intention to move forward and face a new challenge. Physical progress is always accompanied by mental progress, but you have to work on both. Try to keep your mind strong from day one of training. You can focus your mental training on several aspects:
-Visualize yourself running
For many runners, both beginners and professionals, it is very positive to do the mental exercise of imagining themselves running and reaching the end of the race. This practice must be systematic and must be repeated in each race you do. You can visualize, in addition to the finish line, the previous training sessions that you have been doing and that today allow you to run a little further, or a little faster.
Olympian Shalane Flanagan, for example, is motivated to visualize the people who have accompanied her throughout her professional career and for whom, in part, she has been able to reach the top.
-Observe others
Having people who already dominate the sport around us can be a very good incentive to inspire us in their way of working, and observe the guidelines or routines that they do to draw our own. A fundamental part of mental training is accepting that there are athletes who have already reached the point where we are and can help us improve. When we are beginners in any discipline, we have to be very willing to learn from others, and keep our minds awake and receptive to integrate any detail into our training.
-Set new goals
It is important to strive to meet a defined and established objective. In this case, it is going out for a run X days a week, and being constant and faithful to it to comply with it. But it is also important not to relax or get stuck at a point where we are too comfortable.
Training the mind consists of constantly leaving our comfort zone, therefore, when you feel that you have reached a certain goal, start drawing the next one. Your cognitive abilities, your self-esteem and your capacity for sacrifice will increase with each decision you make that implies progress in your training. The new goal that you set does not have to be very different from the previous one, nor does it involve a very abrupt change in your routine, it can simply be to increase the intensity of your race a little, run for two more minutes or establish positive mental stimuli in instead of focusing on tiredness or muscle pain.
- Talk to yourself
The mind remains active while we run. It works even faster than when we remain static. So, while you practice this sport, a lot of thoughts will circulate through your head. It is important that these thoughts are positive and do not make you stagnate or give up halfway. Many times our mind punishes us by invading us with negative stimuli and reminds us how tired we are, how far the goal is or how hard the road is. Training the brain implies eliminating these types of impulses and replacing them with others. There are those who tell stories, those who listen to music or those who make their career a string of motivating phrases.
The athlete Kilian Jornet, tells in numerous interviews that his method to stay running for so many hours in a row varies depending on the point of the route in which he is. To run faster, he imagines that he is on a battlefield and they are chasing him; In order not to give up, he sets short-term goals for himself, small traps that he himself dodges: "I get to the next corner and I stop" and when you get to that corner, you continue.
- Maintain your willpower
Sometimes we give up before we start. Sometimes laziness, tiredness or having had a bad day keep us from sport, which, curiously, radically changes our spirits for the better and helps us clear our minds. In order not to lose willpower, you have to apply (and believe) certain advice that is real.
First of all, think about the fact that you have already had several training sessions that are paying off and that, to reach your goal, you should not pause. Think about whether, by depriving yourself of going for a run, you are going to invest your time in doing something much more productive, whether you are really that tired or whether it is worth it, even if it is, to try.
Think about the feeling of well-being and the satisfaction you have obtained the times you have finished a workout and how good the next one can feel.
- Relativizes
As important as maintaining willpower is to be aware that sometimes the body asks us to rest or that life and the speed at which it passes makes it difficult for us to find time to train. If one day, or two, or whatever, you don't feel strong or wanting, don't force yourself. Be aware that these are specific moments and that tomorrow you will return to the charge. It is important not to dramatize or become obsessed with sport, it must be understood as a means that will bring us happiness and with which we will feel more alive and strong.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR MIND IF YOU ARE ALREADY A RUNNER
If your life as a runner has been active for a while, you may already know the tips that we mentioned before, but we offer you some that can help you perfect your mental training and that you may not have noticed.
-Ideas to ponder
When you run, do you tend to tell yourself stories, to think about the problems that have happened to you during the day, or do you avoid them by listening to music? If you don't know exactly what exactly is going through your mind while you train, we invite you to pay attention in your next race to identify what your dialogue with yourself is. To make the most of the power of your mind, you must know how to choose the exact words you say to yourself well.
If you find, after analyzing your dialogue, that you are focusing exclusively on your physical sensations, you may want to try introducing new thoughts or distracting yourself with external stimuli. If the opposite happens to you and you are one of those who completely evades your physiological state, try to focus more on how you feel.
-Watch yourself
When we observe ourselves we have the opportunity to self-assess ourselves, to identify our mistakes and use them to grow and improve. By doing this exercise you will have a more objective knowledge of what you are doing, and you will acquire a vision that is as little distorted as possible.
-Go from thinking to acting
Once you have set your next goal, you must put it into practice. The way you think will directly affect your performance. Focus on offering yourself encouragement and positive thoughts that will help you overcome the barriers you have set out to break down. Create a list of motivating phrases that you think will have a positive effect on you and remember them while you run.
We hope that the ideas and advice that we have given you in this post will be useful to you, whether or not you are an experienced runner. Start applying them as soon as possible and take great care of your mind! Because it is in charge of accompanying you every day and every moment of your life.
