mental toughness with running

zzfh

hey,im having serious issues with my mind set when running.
were back training the last couple of weeks and im struggling terribly with running..
i have done my weight training through winter and built up a strong leg base..but when it comes to running...
were sent out to do a timed lap,im not 1/4 way through and my brain is screaming 'stop,slow down,this is too hard' etc etc.
i know im capable of finishing it but my mental thoughts are holding me back.

any body else have this or have any cures??

pconn062

I'm guessing from your training that you're a sprinter maybe? Are you struggling on every training session or just on the tough sessions?

zzfh

no no,sorry,i meant to say back gaa training..and yea its every session,but every session is tough this time of year..

ThePiedPiper

No quick cure for your mindset. But, if you supplement the training you're doing with the club with a couple of longer, slower runs by yourself during the week, you'll improve your aerobic base, meaning that the fitness levels will improve. IMHO, too many GAA players are concentrating on weights and strength conditioning at the expense of aerobic fitness. The litany of ligament and muscle injuries being suffered would back that theory up.

Alf. A. Male

zzfh wrote: »

any body else have this or have any cures??

One way or another, yes, most athletes have doubts, pain, a feeling they want to stop and do something else, a head full of excuses, real or imagined, and all manner of mental issues when training or competing. You're not unique by any means.

The advice I'd give you, and I give myself, is
-training is supposed to be hard, if it was easy it wouldn't be training.
-I'm there 'cos I want to be
-everyone is suffering in a race and part of why I'm there is to see if I can deal with it better than the next guy
-the best got where they are because they went through the same issues and won over them.
Winston Churchilll was a great man for summing there things up and he had something to say about this - "When you're going through hell, the best thing to do is keep going".

zzfh

RunForestRun wrote: »

No quick cure for your mindset. But, if you supplement the training you're doing with the club with a couple of longer, slower runs by yourself during the week, you'll improve your aerobic base, meaning that the fitness levels will improve. IMHO, too many GAA players are concentrating on weights and strength conditioning at the expense of aerobic fitness. The litany of ligament and muscle injuries being suffered would back that theory up.

interesting,your saying that strength work without cardio work is adding to the cause of ligament damage in the off season?? im not questioning your theory just curious to hear your take on it?

PVincent

In addition so many sports go for this Sports Specific training and neglect the aerobic base to their peril. In my day it was the boring laps that gave us that base at the preseason training. We all hated them but we knew they had to be done. It was good for mental strength as well. Nowadays it's why train to run for a couple of miles when in a match you might run for at most 20 yards a good number of times. Always felt the sports specific training whilst useful , but only as part of a wider fitness regime.

Timmaay

zzfh wrote: »

any body else have this or have any cures??

During your timed lap, break it down into 100m sections, or even 50m (put cones down at each point if you need), then focus solely on just getting to each marker, ie give yourself a smaller goal than just going out and running 400m, mentally its alot easier to be aiming to run 100m than a full 400m, before ya know it you'll be on the 4th 100m and almost home.

BeepBeep67

Timmaay wrote: »

During your timed lap, break it down into 100m sections, or even 50m (put cones down at each point if you need), then focus solely on just getting to each marker, ie give yourself a smaller goal than just going out and running 400m, mentally its alot easier to be aiming to run 100m than a full 400m, before ya know it you'll be on the 4th 100m and almost home.

I do this all the time, on my 1ks last night I just focused on hitting my 200m marks, so my reps became 5 x (5x200 with 0 recovery)

Sauve

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

I do this all the time, on my 1ks last night I just focused on hitting my 200m marks, so my reps became 5 x (5x200 with 0 recovery)

Zero recovery reps actually does work :pac:
It's much less daunting than a 3k continuous.

rom

count to 100 and repeat. only start when you find it really hard.

ger664

Keep telling yourself its hard but it wont kill me.

viperlogic

If you find you are struggling, don't slow down but speed up, believe me it works.

Also on the LSR's if it's a route you regularly do then it may be boring and so listen to music or radio chat show or audio book (of course if it is safe to do so, eg not running on main busy road)

Another one that keeps me going sometimes is the social aspect, eg Strava or similar, eg you know there is a segment coming up and you want to beat your own PB on it or even a friend