Mental Engagement
Zone in, stay sharp, and keep on track.
Why do you run? Are you like me in that you like to disconnect from the toils of 21st century life? Do you find yourself with an overwhelming urge to lace up your shoes, let your mind wander, and appreciate the naturally wild landscape?
I find myself the most entranced by the runs where I know I can disassociate from the expectations and responsibilities of the modern world. This ability to dissolve external stresses is a powerful skill to use while running, especially when trying to block out bodily aches or the bewildering distance yet to cover.
The power of dissociation can help us reach new heights in our performance, but the skill of mental engagement shouldn’t be overlooked. Engagement is a mighty compliment to the ability to “tune out” in stride.
Mental engagement = staying focused = associating with the current/future running demands = a skill that can be honed in training.
Why do we want the skill of keeping our mind engaged on the run? Maybe you need to stay tuned into how far away that next aid station is so you can gather your trash and take an inventory of needed gear. Maybe you need to stay focused on pacing during a critical section of trail in order to avoid a time cutoff or to keep the lead over another race. Maybe you need to be aware of where you are at on-trail so you don’t miss a critical turn. Or, maybe you need to stay focused on hydration and fueling needs.
It’s so easy to turn our brain off and run on autopilot. I know I’ve been in races where I find myself at an aid station and completely forget to grab my trash, have no idea what gear I need to refill on, and have to spend extra time stumbling around in order to speed out as quickly as possible. All of which could have been avoided if I was mentally engaged and conscious of my needs prior to entering the aid station.
I also know that there have been (plenty of) times where I zone out to nature and forget to drink for hours on end, only to be left lead-legged and lumbering around the forest. Should I have been more engaged with my body I may have spared myself the dizziness and debilitating dehydration.
There’s plenty of ways to practice this mental engagement. Devising and practicing with a mantra can give you a precise way to zone into your run. My mantra as of late is “lean in, lean forward, flow”, “Lean in” symbolizes mentally committing to the moment, “lean forward” reminds me to focus on the physical demands, “flow” tunes me into smoothly navigating the terrain of the trail. All statements in the mantra relate to the present demands of the run that I’m experiencing.
A tougher way to practice mental engagement, in my opinion, is to devise workouts with varying intensities and durations. It is easy to go for a 30 minute easy run, it's a little more mentally challenging to do a 2x10 minute tempo run - where you have to be aware of your rep and rest length while staying present with where you are at in the workout. It is even tougher to be cognitively aware you are at during a run that has varying rep and recovery lengths - where you need to be present, as well as have forethought about what the varying workout structure will be in the near future. “Zoning out” would lead to incompletion of the devised structure and a lack of mental engagement.
Try a ladder workout with varying times and intensity targets. For example, warm up for 2 miles, and complete the following ladder. End with a cooldown to accumulate 1 hour of running :
2x (1min, 2min, 3min, 3min, 2min, 1min), 1 min rep rest, 5min set refresh
1min reps @ 5k pace
2min reps @ 10k pace
3min reps @ ½ Marathon pace
While not being a necessarily brutal workout on the legs (with only 4mins total @ 5k pace, 8mins total @ 10k pace, and 12mins total @ ½ Marathon pace), the skill in this design is to keep the mind sharp with where you are at time-wise and what intensity you need to maintain.
All styles of practicing mental engagement have merit and help to sharpen cognitive skills that will undoubtedly be useful come race day. Try devising a mantra for your next run to keep you present in the moment, or try to make a workout that forces you to keep changing gears. With a little practice you’ll be better able to handle the mental gymnastics needed for proper race execution during your next event.
Reese Slobodianuk.
B.S. Kinesiology, nutritional minor
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