Can Mental Toughness Be Trained?
Is one of your limiting factors in racing not knowing what you are really capable of?
WHAT DO I MEAN BY, NOT KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF?
Here are some examples:
You may have been in the sport for a while (older athlete) and during harder training, you navigate yourself away from going really hard as you don’t want to feel the pain (one of the key reasons I believe performance slows as we get older).
Did you slow down during your last ironman/ 70.3 run, not knowing how to get that running speed back to your optimal pace?
What about a young athlete or an athlete who is new to endurance sports and doesn’t understand how to get through tough patches?
With all these scenarios (and there are hundreds more), do we just admit defeat and back off trying to race to the best of our ability? Or do we learn that all performance athletes have gone through this and learned how to get to the other side?
Then and only then do we know our true potential.
SOME DON’T NEED IT:
Some people don’t actually want or need to deal with this and be ‘mentally stronger‘ - some people just want to be healthy, have fun, chat with their mates on the way around a race, and are not in the slightest bit concerned with where they finish or how they perform. If it hurts, they will just slow down or walk. In some cases, if they are in ‘no man’s land’ (the midpoint in a race or halfway on the run) they just, sit on the side of the road and/or quit.
BOXING:
Boxing is a sport that most would agree requires mental toughness…
In training, boxers will spar (fighting in training), they will get hit with good shots, and learn to deal with it. They will become physically exhausted and still have the mental clarity to make smart decisions about offense and defensive tactics. However, unlike endurance sports, there are consequences… getting hit in the face! Through their training/experience and sound coaching, they learn to build their mental toughness.
BACK TO TRIATHLON:
One of the toughest parts of our sport, whether you’re an age grouper racing Ironman (a little less so with staggered starts now!), a junior or an elite athlete racing WT, is getting to and around that first buoy on the swim.
Some back off and some take the outside line or stay at the back. It is brutal and even more brutal in elite short-course racing when they know their position around that first buoy will greatly determine their exit position and therefore the race outcome due to the nature of draft-legal racing.
What about during your next Ironman (you know it’s coming!), you’re about 20 - 25k into the run, it’s hot, your legs are heavy and you’re still a long way from home… are you backing off your pace, thus missing your Kona slot, podium or PB?
What about a 16-year-old girl, new to triathlon, 3k still to run, and she starts to get dropped by the small group she is running with… does she allow this to happen and then just decide… ‘I’m not good enough’?’
Or the age grouper whilst out on the Olympic distance bike course and some chap comes flying past with a very snazzy bike, disc wheel, and nice aero position looking strong… does he try and take pace (not drafting!) or just judge the book by its cover and say… “nope, too good”?
The scenarios I have described, I think you will agree rely heavily on mental toughness… but, is it trainable?
I hear coaches, psychologists, and athletes discussing this often and mostly they feel it is something innate. However, I fundamentally disagree, and here’s why...
We all have good and bad days but my background in a sport where one must "dig in" when caught with a good shot (boxing), as a physical training instructor in the military and being involved in endurance sports since the mid-’90s,has taught me that by giving people the tools to master their headspace, mental toughness can be taught... but how?
CONVENTIONAL V EASTERN PRACTICES:
Conventional sports psychology will look to give you tools that help distract you from the discomfort (counting to 100 etc.), but when our fight, flight or freeze mentality kicks in, the lion we initially got scared of is still there… or put more simply, you still have 20k to run!
Firstly, it is quite easy to just sit on the sofa and watch TV, entering a race/ event that is going to physically & mentally challenge you takes courage, so give yourself a pat on the back for that step.
We know from studies, acceptance of and leaning into pain is more powerful than trying to distract away from pain when trying to endure discomfort. We also know pain is generated by the brain, not at the source i.e. if you cut your finger the brain gives it a pain score say 1 a little scratch to 10 sliced off! It is not generated by the nerve endings at that part of the body.
Therefore, taking this into the discomfort we feel when training or racing, it now becomes very controllable and from this position of control, we gain confidence we can deal with an impending wobble!
Therefore, with basic preparation and interventions, we see that in the same situation in which we may have scored as high as 7 or 8 with training/ practice we can get this down to a 1 or 2 over time.
Before we look at the interventions, we need to go back to that fight, flight or freeze. One of the first steps is to ensure our internal conversation remains calm. Think about it -when we panic, the internal conversation is quick and hurried, and this doesn’t allow for good decision-making, we re-act instead of act.
For example, when you first try hypoxic training in the pool, as you are getting close to running out of oxygen, panic sets in and you rush quickly to the surface (hypoxic work is a great arena in which to practice what is being discussed here). Over time, you can double the distance you cover underwater with awareness and calm control (picture free-divers).
The first step in developing our mental strength is awareness. You have to set yourself up, deliberately knowing what is going to happen and the process you will implement when you hit the tough patch.
FINDING A WAY THROUGH:
Acceptance; Calm conversation in the mind, acknowledging the discomfort and pain that are here and building,
Breathing; Focus on the out-breath as you breathe (this ensures you take in as much O2 as possible and gives you something positive to keep you in the moment and stay calm)
Self-compassion; Think of a positive self-statement, i.e. ” It's okay, I’m going to lean into this, good work”
Physical; Know technically what you need to be doing i.e. when running, running tall, or checking your cadence. Something that keeps you in the moment and focused on the task at hand.
Observing; By this, I mean really looking at the beauty that’s around you, the trees, and flowers… but consciously looking and taking it in.
Finally - smile; Proven to release good chemicals in the brain! Even if you don’t feel like it - have you seen Eliud Kipchoge at the last miles of a marathon? Do you think he’s not in pain?
NB; the pain I am discussing here is not the type of pain like a stress fracture or a twisted ankle, it is muscular endurance pain or mental fatigue discomfort.
IN PRACTICE:
While racing, you are mindful that the situation will arise at some point (awareness) and then, calmly, as you hit the tough patch, you accept it and with real interest and wonder, start your intervention.
Focusing on the out-breath three times (this quiets the mind), say something calmly and compassionately, (this is very individual), “Ok, this is what I have been working on, I know I can handle this, I know I am stronger for it” (keep in mind here if you have not practiced this in training how do you know you can do it, don’t try and bluff your way). Then, think of a technical element of the sport you are doing - this ensures maximum economy of motion and may actually make it feel easier. You may lift your head and really take in the natural beauty around you. Then you smile!
This is not a smile of arrogance, as this would be the ego (more about this in a further article) this smile is saying “I am mastering something”.
Just like swimming, biking and running, the more you practice good technique, the more efficient/skilled you become. Slowly, increasing the intensity of the tough scenarios in training is the only way to become mentally stronger in racing.
Different scenarios, races, and race distances will require different approaches. However, I guarantee you – if you put this simple process in place during training, you will feel a million dollars for breaking through a tough patch.
Only when you put this into practice during racing, will you then start to realise your full potential.
It doesn’t matter if you have quit before, it doesn’t matter if you have slowed down or walked… Becoming mentally tougher is TRAINABLE.
JB
