What Seneca Would Say about Marathon Frustrations

educatedrunner — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:05:00 GMT

Running a marathon can be an extremely frustrating experience. Frustration occurs during this great race when there is a gap between actual performance on race day and expected performance.

One “solution” could be to eliminate expectations and simply focus on the actual effort during the race. A key problem with this is that expectations can be great motivators during pre-marathon training. In addition, having a goal pace for the marathon (an expectation) improves the quality of pre-race training, because portions of long runs can be carried out at goal tempo (thus enhancing goal-tempo economy and fatigue-resistance, not to mention confidence with one’s goal).

If frustration is permitted to mount on race day (because race pace is slower than expected), it usually hurts performance severely. As my friend Angelos Vetsis points out, frustration produces stress and a loss of focus and mental control. One feels a bit disgraced out on the course, and a feeling that pre-marathon training has been a waste of time is allowed to burgeon. The overall race performance becomes much worse than it should be – finishing time moves even farther away from the goal.

So frustration should be handled successfully during races which do not meet expectations, but what is the key to such success? Part of the answer may come from the Stoics of ancient Greece.

One of the key tenets of the stoic philosophy was that one should not worry excessively about situations over which one has no control. What might Stoicism mean – from a practical standpoint – in a race? In the case of a marathon, expected pace might be 4:00 per K, but actual pace could turn out to be 4:20 per K, as an example. The runner hitting the 4:20 Ks feels that nothing can be done – it is simply impossible to ramp up to 4:00 per K, for whatever reasons. The legs simply won’t go any faster.

Frustration over this 4:00 to 4:20 gap can completely ruin the rest of the race. Seneca, a founding Stoic (not the noted American-Indian chief, although he might have similar thoughts), would say that one should completely forget about the 20-second gap, since nothing can be done about it. All attempts to close the gap have failed. Thus, the task remaining in the race is to maintain the 4:20 pace without letting frustration tear it apart. Accomplishing this “maintenance job” would be a major victory on a very tough day. It would be easy to let the whole race come crashing down into dejected plodding and mental self-abuse, out of frustration associated with not hitting what appeared to be an achievable goal. In this common situation, frustration is dealt with and a crash is avoided through stoic thinking, an adjustment of goals, and within-race focus on the new goal.

The Stoics also believed that one should focus more intently on constructive actions rather than thoughts (especially repetitively negative cogitations). Putting this belief into practice, a frustrated runner would “cancel” negative thoughts about performance during the race and would consciously refuse to dwell on the gap between goal and reality. Such a thought (about the inability to sustain goal speed) could occur once and only once, and then the runner would move on with actions, employing all the strategies needed to keep on running in a quality way (such strategies are covered in our marathon blog).

Part of the answer, too, may lie in the realization that every day is different from a performance standpoint, and every day has its own specific, top level of possible performance (which is different from the tops on other days). As a mature runner, one can realize that a certain day, perhaps even race day, simply can not be a day for best-possible performance, for a variety of different physiological and psychological reasons. When a race goes bad, one can thus proceed in different directions: (1) Beating oneself up for not reaching the goal and letting frustration mount, with all of its negative consequences, or (2) Deciding that one is going to perform at one’s best on that day, even though it is not a goal performance. The accomplishment of the latter can actually be quite heroic and satisfying. On a day when a goal can’t be reached, there is no mental elation associated with flying along at one’s very top capacity, and thus the effort can be very hard psychologically. The race then becomes a matter of toughness, self-control, gutting it out, and employing Stoic philosophy. On a bad day, succeeding in this way is even more difficult than achieving one’s goal on a perfect day – and thus it can be even more satisfying. As the Stoics often pointed out, you should strive to locate happiness in things you can control.

Dealing with frustrating aspects of training and racing – and much more – will be fully developed at my running camps this summer. Three camps are available for you – June 20-25 in Vermont, July 4-9 at the University of Oregon, and July 18-23 in Los Angeles (at beautiful Loyola Marymount University). Attending one of these camps will make you fitter, faster, and more injury free. I’ll personally help you develop a training program which is just right for you. To sign up and work with me on making your running better than it has ever been before, please go to http://www.educatedrunner.com/Camps.aspx

I also have a special offer running from now until April 15 (no fooling). The offer is one month of personal coaching for $19.99, no strings attached. You don’t have to provide a credit card – just information about yourself and your running goals. After the month, you can continue to work with me at my usual rate or simply say “No – it’s not what I expected,” with no hard feelings at all, and of course no pressure at any time. To begin your month of training at the astonishing rate of just 67 cents per day, please go to http://www.educatedrunner.com/Coaching.aspx

Fatigue-Defying Strategies for the Marathon

educatedrunner — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:20:00 GMT

The spring marathon season is kicking into full-swing, which reminds me that this race depends on mental strategizing (for success) more than any other popular race distance. You can burn a 5K without thinking, but in the marathon pensiveness is always going to come to the fore at some point, and it can hurt you or help you as you negotiate those 26.2 miles. The right mental mind-set for the marathon revolves around what I like to call FFRR & DSD – Focus, Fatigue-Relief, Relaxation, and Doing Something Different.

Focus: There are times during the race when fatigue seems overwhelming and thoughts are turning negative. At these points, total

Educated Runner

What Seneca Would Say about Marathon Frustrations

Fatigue-Defying Strategies for the Marathon