With the London and Manchester marathons both this Sunday (27 April), Dr Abigail Jackson, an expert in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Kent’s School of Natural Sciences, has written some tips to help prepare Marathon runners with ‘hitting the wall’ and pushing through it with mental strength:
‘With long distance running there will always be a time you ‘hit the wall’. It is how you approach that ‘wall’ which will determine whether you spiral with negative thoughts and cave to the pain and exhaustion or do you break down the ‘wall’ and push through it by using your mental strength to keep running. Below are five tips to help you prepare with hitting the ‘wall’ as well as pushing through it.’
- Imagine your Marathon: Use all your 5 senses to help you visualise your run from start to finish (e.g., crowds cheering whilst you can hear your deep breaths, the breeze cooling you down as you feel the sweat drip down your face, the pain in you feel deep in your muscles, the steep hills on the course that you know you will have to dig deep for). In doing so it will boost your confidence, develop mental toughness and resilience and help you be prepared for unexpected setbacks and challenges.
- Sleep: Develop a sleep routine (a set time that you start to unwind), create the right environment (generally dark, cool and quiet, but everyone is different) and try relaxation techniques to help you sleep. Sleep aids muscle recovery and growth, reduces injury and improves coordination and reaction times.
- Set Goals: Create a marathon plan to help you keep on track so that when you are running you can remind yourself what you are aiming for.
- Be your biggest cheerleader: Positive self-talk can be really powerful. Remind yourself of what you have achieved and overcome in the past as well as encouraging yourself.
- Celebrate the small wins: Whilst you are running tell yourself that when you get to certain mile/checkpoints or when you see your loved ones cheering you on that you can reward yourself with the gummy sweets etc. Doing this will give you small milestones to work towards, motivating you to achieve your end goal of completing the marathon.