Positive Thinking: Not Just In Your Head
Daily Tip #11
On the team bus to a high school cross-country meet on an unexpectedly hot day, a coach overheard one of his runners saying to teammates, “We’re gonna die out there.” He had the bus driver pull over and gave the team an impromptu lecture, the gist of which was, “If you think negatively, you increase the chance of a poor performance. If your competitors think that way, you have an advantage.” The difference is mental—but it’s not just a coaching cliché. Under the same physical circumstances, mental attitude can be the difference between a bad race and a great one.
The forecast for the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE is for hot, humid weather. All but complete beginners and those unlucky enough never to have run in better weather are extremely unlikely to run personal-best times in such conditions, and that leads to a special challenge: What will give the race its value, and how will that value be gauged?
Positive thinking can help an athlete overcome the obstacles that tough weather conditions add to an already-tough challenge: racing 13.1 miles. Sometimes it’s a simple matter of how words are used: You may be running at a slower pace than usual, but that doesn’t mean that you’re “slow.” It’s the weather that’s making the difference; your ability-level is the same—and with the right preparation and attitude, you can still excel. If you’ve adjusted your time goals because of the heat, you can run an optimal race by maintaining a steady pace and effort-level past the halfway point, then gradually adding effort until you don’t have much more to add—which should happen just before the finish line. If you haven’t slowed much or at all from start to finish, you’ll know that your race has been as good as one that you ran several minutes faster on an ideal 50-degree day.
If instead you reach an early mile marker and think, “That’s 22 seconds slower than I got to the 5K mark a month ago—I’m dying out here!” you’ll start an accumulation of self-criticism and depression that will last throughout—and prolong—your race. Of course, you may have to honestly reassess your race en route, and the best way to run it may well be to slow the pace or to take drink stops. But those things can be done with a positive attitude: You’re making your race the best it can be.
Negative: “My last split was pathetic. And it still feels hard. Guess I’ve got to back off even more.”
Positive: “This is a bit too quick—I’ll back off a fraction—okay, this is doable; I was heading over the red line there.”
Negative: “I can’t believe I have to stop at the aid stations—I’ve never done that before.”
Positive: “This weather takes special tactics. It’s hot, but by taking longer to drink, I’m handling it.”
Positive thinking can be strengthened from outside, too. At perhaps the most crucial point in the race, the 9-mile mark as you turn off 42nd Street onto the West Side Highway, you’ll see the Toyota Hybrid Turn to the Finish and hear the uplifting beats of a samba band. Don’t tune them out. Instead of thinking of the long four miles left to go, think of the much longer distance that you’ve already run. Onlookers along the course appreciate that what you’re doing takes rare concentration and will. They’re right. Believe it, and you can still run your best—on the day.
