Using the Mind ?

[Dallin wilson]

While running, some runners are able to shut down physical pain with their mind to help them run better. lately i have not been racing like i should be and was wondering if there are any special exercises i can do to help me gain this ability. If anyone has any answers please reply
Thanks

[Joe Furse]

Well I've never been able to shut down pain as you say, but I think the best remedy is to race a lot (I'm assuming we're talking from a 5k-10k perspective here...marathons are different in how often you can race, but I guess the same idea would apply).  Racing feels different than training (at least for me) no matter what you do in your training.  If you race a lot you get used to that pain and general feeling of "I think I'm gonna die."  For example in high school when I was racing every single week I was really able to learn how to force my body to run through pain and reach closer to its potential--even to where I could run through setbacks like tripping, sideaches, muscle tighness, and getting spiked without much of a problem and win races anyway.  Now when I don't have nearly as many chances to race it seems to hurt a lot more because my body isn't used to operating at that level on a regular basis.  I'm going to try to change that this summer and cram it full of fun runs and other races every spare weekend I get...just to get a feel for racing again even if I don't set any land speed records.  Problem is that gets expensive. 

That's just what I've discovered that works for me...I'm sure Sasha and the other running geniuses will get on here and give you much better advice on how that actually works and how to overcome mental barriers.  For me it's just doing it a lot.

[Jeff Linger]

I agree with Joe. The more you do it, the more you are able to distinguish the messages of pain. All pain isn't necessarily bad, or at least, some becomes recognizeable as something that can be run through. Until that point though, I think the best way to put one thing out of your mind is to put another thing into it. Focus on another aspect of racing that is necessary for good performance. Perhaps focus on the cadence of your breathing, or keeping your fingertips just barely touching each other so that your hands stay relaxed. Focus on pulling through each stride. There are a number of things you can focus on. A lot of world class runners will focus on aspects of their stride to keep their form from falling apart late in a race when they're tired. Doing so not only keeps your form together (which transfers to improved performance) but it keeps your mind from focusing on how much the pace might hurt. I mention it frequently in my posts, but once again I return to the Propreiceptive Cues listed in Matt Fitzgerald's book Brain Training for Runners. These things really work. I'm especially convinced of the effectiveness of combining Leaning Forward at the Ankles, Naval to Spine, Pulling the Road, and Squeezing the Buttocks. These things take time to practice and develop, but when you get them down and begin to put them together, you will find it difficult to keep your pace from speeding up. And such speed ups come with less demands on your lung capacity because the increases do not request energy demands as much as form efficiency demands.

[Matt Konold]

Although I don't have any advice how to mentally shut down the signals of pain, I do get into a mindset that helps me through the pain, and even sometimes helps me inflict more pain.  I used this a lot in high school 5k's, and recently in marathons.  I just tell myself that "tomorrow I'll wake up and will not feel this pain"  (well, I'll be sore, but not in the extreme pain I am currently in), "This won't last".  Tomorrow when I feel normal, I will regret looking back and knowing that I didn't push myself as hard as I could have.  I think many people don't use mind tricks to get past the pain, but find ways to motivate them through the pain. 

Basically, pain is temporary.  Push it (within reason, don't do something that will cause injury), and you will feel much better the days after knowing that you're the master and the body is your slave "mind over matter".   

[Joe Furse]

I really agree with finding something else to focus on...that works wonders.  My favorite method is to get a plan for the race and then focus on the strategy and just run it through my mind the whole time and be constantly checking where I'm at with it and stuff and making adjustments based on what other people are doing and stuff. I run much better when I run to beat people rather than to beat a time but either way works, it just depends on who you are I guess.