On Radio 4’s “All In The Mind”, there was a piece on sports psychology by Dr Tim Rees from Exeter University. You will improve the most if you give yourself reasons for a poor performance that you can control. Positive feedback to failure puts the power to change within your control. He did an experiment with blindfold darts – but it translates well to all sports, including running.
Putting a bad run down to “I’m no good at running” is not likely to help you to run better next time.
Aspects you can control include:
"I set off too quickly.”
“I chose a route that was too hilly/rough/muddy for the distance I covered.”
"It was too hot for such a long run.”
"I’m still not over my cold.”
"I was dehydrated.”
"My technique could be better.”
“I need to train a bit more before I try that route again – or I could tweak the route in the short term.”
Also try to note what went well – even if your run wasn’t great. Some examples:
- Give yourself a huge pat on the back for going out running at all.
- Congratulate yourself on being wise enough to take a walking break when it got too tough to run.
- Try to remember a part of the run that felt a bit better.
- Feel proud that you tried a new route – even though it might need a bit of tweaking.
- Celebrate finishing your planned run.
- Put some extra effort & time into your post run stretch – and recognise that this will help you to recover better.
Running really is mind over matter!
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