Dave Spence
Firstly: The mental training. You need to feel "I AM Aware".
Say, for instance, you tell others your verbal finishing time is: "About 4 hours."
Added to this, you will harbour a desired time: "I THINK I can do it, if all goes perfect, 15 to 30 minutes faster."
Then there is an ideal or fantasized time: "Wouldn't it be great to break 3:30 in my first marathon." Acknowledge your "desired" time and "fantasy" time verbally to yourself.
One: Set your time with a standard deviation (SD) of 15 minutes. The SD=3D=B1 (Verbal Time + 5 minutes). The mind/body message goes from a single second in time to a window of 30 minutes and respects the mind, the body and the conditions of the day.
Two: Starting a marathon 15 seconds to 30 seconds per km faster than your race plan for the first 5 to 8 km, can slow your finish time from 20 minutes to 90 minutes. That speed will burn off several times more glycogen in the first 8 km than needed.
You are fuelled with energy from minimal running the 6 days before the marathon. You have also stored extra energy from eating and hydrating well the last three days before the marathon.
So, know your game plan and stick to it for the first 8 km when you are so full of energy. That energy can easily give you the power to run those first few km at that 15 second to 30 second per km faster ... and not even realize it. It will remember somewhere between km 32 – 42.
Three: The jitteriness you feel the morning of the race and the day before are from your body being fuelled and needing to expend energy. You can identify it as fear, or nervousness, or worry.
Just remember you haven't run more than 8 km in 3 days. You body is ready to do something - Run a Marathon. You now feel what it's like not to run a few days ... or the feelings 3 days after injuring yourself. To walk and sightsee 8 to 10 km the day before the marathon, is to use 500 to 1000 calories of energy plus the water to store the glycogen. You may not be able to replenish it by race time.
Four: In the past 6 months if you have moved, bought a house, changed jobs, started or ended a relationship, had a child (or fathered a child), have trouble at work or home, that costs you mental energy, and there is a good likelihood you will finish 30 to 60 minutes slower than you had planned.
Five: When you feel tired or unable to go on, should your mind go to the finish line, bring it back to the present. If your mind is at the finish, so is your body ... even though it has 1 to 8 km to go. Bring the mind to the present by saying, "I am at Km xx and am being drawn by a magnet to the finish. I hold my body up and erect and I am being pulled steadily to the finish." It works.
Six: The last 10 km, push the crown of your head up and look to the horizon. Look up, not down. By holding the head erect, you save your shoulder muscles and balance - not only the weight of your 5 to 6 kg head, but also improve your breathing.
Seven: The last 10 km, run out from the pack and away from the curb side. You will be open to and picking up visual and non-verbal cues of runners around you. If you are away from the curb and can see down the road 200 to 300 metres in front of you, you will be running your own race. Should someone stop dead in front of you, do not give them any of your energy by getting angry or upset. Simply say as you pass them, "Don't lose your form. Even if you walk, keep your good running form."
Eight: When someone running with you starts to speed up or to fall behind, or you start to pick up your pace or fall behind; in your mind, picture a pair of scissors in your hand cutting the cord between you and the other runner. Otherwise, you will be carrying that person in your mind ... and it will only slow you down ... or wear you out if they are in front of you.
You can only be in one place physically, and that is directly above the space upon which you feet are running. Cutting that cord allows you to cut loose from a slower runner or free your mind from attempting to keep up with a faster runner.
Nine: When you run with someone, run shoulder to shoulder. If you run slightly behind, the mind often feels like it is having to catch up. If your image is that of being pulled or towed by the runner in front of you, then running behind is okay ... unless the runner complains.
Ten: In a marathon if your try to catch someone, wind them in over 3 to 5 km. That way you waste no energy required to finish the last 10km.
(source Old Mutual)
Firstly: The mental training. You need to feel "I AM Aware".
Say, for instance, you tell others your verbal finishing time is: "About 4 hours."
Added to this, you will harbour a desired time: "I THINK I can do it, if all goes perfect, 15 to 30 minutes faster."
Then there is an ideal or fantasized time: "Wouldn't it be great to break 3:30 in my first marathon." Acknowledge your "desired" time and "fantasy" time verbally to yourself.
One: Set your time with a standard deviation (SD) of 15 minutes. The SD=3D=B1 (Verbal Time + 5 minutes). The mind/body message goes from a single second in time to a window of 30 minutes and respects the mind, the body and the conditions of the day.
Two: Starting a marathon 15 seconds to 30 seconds per km faster than your race plan for the first 5 to 8 km, can slow your finish time from 20 minutes to 90 minutes. That speed will burn off several times more glycogen in the first 8 km than needed.
You are fuelled with energy from minimal running the 6 days before the marathon. You have also stored extra energy from eating and hydrating well the last three days before the marathon.
So, know your game plan and stick to it for the first 8 km when you are so full of energy. That energy can easily give you the power to run those first few km at that 15 second to 30 second per km faster ... and not even realize it. It will remember somewhere between km 32 – 42.
Three: The jitteriness you feel the morning of the race and the day before are from your body being fuelled and needing to expend energy. You can identify it as fear, or nervousness, or worry.
Just remember you haven't run more than 8 km in 3 days. You body is ready to do something - Run a Marathon. You now feel what it's like not to run a few days ... or the feelings 3 days after injuring yourself. To walk and sightsee 8 to 10 km the day before the marathon, is to use 500 to 1000 calories of energy plus the water to store the glycogen. You may not be able to replenish it by race time.
Four: In the past 6 months if you have moved, bought a house, changed jobs, started or ended a relationship, had a child (or fathered a child), have trouble at work or home, that costs you mental energy, and there is a good likelihood you will finish 30 to 60 minutes slower than you had planned.
Five: When you feel tired or unable to go on, should your mind go to the finish line, bring it back to the present. If your mind is at the finish, so is your body ... even though it has 1 to 8 km to go. Bring the mind to the present by saying, "I am at Km xx and am being drawn by a magnet to the finish. I hold my body up and erect and I am being pulled steadily to the finish." It works.
Six: The last 10 km, push the crown of your head up and look to the horizon. Look up, not down. By holding the head erect, you save your shoulder muscles and balance - not only the weight of your 5 to 6 kg head, but also improve your breathing.
Seven: The last 10 km, run out from the pack and away from the curb side. You will be open to and picking up visual and non-verbal cues of runners around you. If you are away from the curb and can see down the road 200 to 300 metres in front of you, you will be running your own race. Should someone stop dead in front of you, do not give them any of your energy by getting angry or upset. Simply say as you pass them, "Don't lose your form. Even if you walk, keep your good running form."
Eight: When someone running with you starts to speed up or to fall behind, or you start to pick up your pace or fall behind; in your mind, picture a pair of scissors in your hand cutting the cord between you and the other runner. Otherwise, you will be carrying that person in your mind ... and it will only slow you down ... or wear you out if they are in front of you.
You can only be in one place physically, and that is directly above the space upon which you feet are running. Cutting that cord allows you to cut loose from a slower runner or free your mind from attempting to keep up with a faster runner.
Nine: When you run with someone, run shoulder to shoulder. If you run slightly behind, the mind often feels like it is having to catch up. If your image is that of being pulled or towed by the runner in front of you, then running behind is okay ... unless the runner complains.
Ten: In a marathon if your try to catch someone, wind them in over 3 to 5 km. That way you waste no energy required to finish the last 10km.
(source Old Mutual)