We have all been there, when you reached the limit in the race and have nothing more to give. Or at least we think we don’t. So many times I have passed the finish line and wondered if I did my best, did I push as hard as I could? Impossible to say but lets all agree on that there is a difference between how we feel after different races. I find that difference interesting.

I did my best race when I was 16. It was a 1500m race and it was only me and a older runner participating. The race wasn’t my best because of the time compared to others in my age or that 1500m turned out to be my best distance, which it didn’t. It was simply the best race since I had never maxed out so hard in a race before.

It simply started out in a faster pace than planned. The older runner was faster than me and I didn’t wanted to lose his back. So I pushed more than I was used to. The first key take away was that the other runner wasn’t unreasonably faster than me, just enough to push my comfort zone within reason. After the first lap I felt the consequence of my pace. I had started to fast and now I paied the price. All I wanted to do was to slow down, but for some reason I didn’t. I pushed all the way over the finish line and got a PB with over 20sec.

Since that race I have been curious in what makes us faster except for the common training. Can we train our brain to push us faster than the body wants? Reading multiple books and of course my 1500m race in mind I want to believe so. In this post I have summarized it in some guidelines that works for me.

Positive thinking - Studies show that a positive mind is able to workout harder compared to a mind that is not. Simply giving yourself compliments of how good you are (not loud) during a race will help to keep you motivated. Maybe it is not that hard to realize this fact but the struggle to keep on doing this in a race is. When our brain gets tired it doesn’t want to think positive. It want to stop since this clearly is safer for you. Remaining positive is hard, but possible if you practise. I usually do positive thinking when doing intervals and it is usually quite clear afterwards what intervals I kept a positive thinking. At least when I look at the watch.

Break down the goal: We want achievable goals to stay motivated. Nothing wrong with that, so we should give it to us. Instead of seeing the whole race as a goal it is easier to break it down into smaller goals we can see. The next goal is to the corner 200m away, after that my goal is to the park in the end of the road and so on. Nothing is more achievable than something we can see and even if the finishline is the best sight it is only helpful the last 300m as most. Break it down and focus on what is ahead of you. We tend to speed up when we can see the finish line so why don’t give yourself more finish lines.

Focus on posture: This is more of a experience tip I found worked for me. When I get tired I start to lose my straight posture and run almost like I am sitting down. When this happens I know I am in for a countdown since this position is much less efficient. During a race I try to regularly scan my body. Am I doing everything right? Is there something that I should change? I know how to run my best, that is how I usually run. But when you get tired you unconsciously change how you run. Some would argue that this is a good thing since the body adapts depending on how strong you are. If you get tired maybe a sitting posture is better and that the body knows best how to move most effectively in any situation. Sounds logic but it doesn’t work for me however.

In practise I try to alternate between these three topics when I race. Trying to focus on one at a time and loop with a reasonable time between them. I am not going to lie, this is hard. But I believe if I just manage to do this for one third of the race it is better than nothing. Try it out and see for yourself.

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Emil Jönsson

IT-projektledare från Lund

Åldersgrupp: 29

Mina discipliner
10 km OCR/ Hinderbanelopp

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