If you’ve ever attempted to run a marathon you know first-hand there is some truth to the saying that running is 90% mental toughness. Sure, a heck of a lot of physical training goes into preparing your body for the 26.2; early morning runs, a dialed-in diet, and lots of stretching and foam rolling, but rumor has it, for marathon runners your mind is the most important muscle to train before hitting the pavement.
Mental strength is the capacity to reliably perform at your best despite external conditions and internal emotions. This explains why marathon runners can heroically move past certain circumstances such as the runner’s wall, and finish their race which may have taken the average Joe to the ground.
The men’s marathon world record is 2:01:39, set by Eliud Kipchoge in 2018 at the Berlin Marathon, and 2:14:04 for women set by Brigid Kosgei at the 2019 Chicago Marathon. Only the top 5% of runners complete marathons in under three hours. This takes resilience, focus and strength, and lots of failing forward.
If you want to get a closer look at what goes on in the mind of marathon runners and what their mental strategies are that propels them forward past the runner’s wall, we have five incredibly mentally tough runners here to show you just what it takes to cross the finish line!
Linda Solomon: ‘Once the training is done, you have to bring your mental game’
Linda Solomon, a mother of three relies on her mental game when running long distances and has completed 20 marathons; one in 2017 in which she was pregnant while crossing the Boston Marathon finish line with ease.
Solomon informs us that a lot of what goes into marathoning is mental, and holds close to advice a friend gave her that has proven true. “When it gets hard out there remember you’re only at 40% — your body has more to give; you just have to dig deep.”
So, now every time Solomon feels she’s hit a hard spot, she keeps repeating, “40 percent, 40 percent, 40 percent” to herself, and with 20 marathons under her belt, it’s safe to say that mental strategy has been working!
Solomon feels if you want something bad enough you will work hard for it. “In April I had a tough goal to qualify for a marathon which required a tough finish time. I made a shirt that read: “I can and I will.” When it got tough out there, I repeated that quote — and my goal was met.”
JP “Getting to the finish line of a marathon is as much about mental strength as it is physical.”
JP learned a valuable lesson the hard way when he ran in the 2017 Boston marathon. It was his fifth marathon and he thought he had it down; as he had improved his pacing and hydration strategy over the course of his first four marathons.
However, that all went out the window when he started the race. It was his first Boston marathon and understandably, he was amped up. He started too fast, wasting energy. and by Mile 12 was dehydrated, feeling his throat closing up. At mile 20, JP suffered a massive thigh cramp and collapsed. At this point, he was mentally defeated and exited the race.
Although this was tough on JP, he “failed-forward” using his experience to help train his mind and body to go and finish the Boston Marathon in 2018, run a 5k (PR) a few weeks before his spring 2019 marathon, and was able to finish another marathon which was his third fast time (3:29:00)!
He’s learned two things from his first Boston experience: He relies on pickle juice to help alleviate cramps, and you have to prepare yourself both physically and mentally to get through the last 6 miles of a marathon. “When I am approaching that part of a marathon where it gets tough [cramps, extremely sore toes, blisters, etc.], I start repeating a mantra in my mind that I have to have mental toughness and grind through to the finish.; I use the humiliation and feeling of being defeated that I experienced after that first Boston experience as a motivation to not repeat those feelings, and I push myself both mentally and physically.” Safe to say, JP’s experiences, training, and mental edge makes him who is today on the trails.
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Courtesy of Gail Martin/Facebook
Gail Martin: “The quality of your thoughts has everything to do with performance; even when you’re fatigued.”
Gail Martin has run more than 100 marathons (yes, you read that right!) and has completed 26.2 miles in all 50 states! So, it’s all ears when she talks about her mental training. Martin feels that when mental strategies become necessary, the most important aspects are to be in the moment and be flexible.
“You might go into a race with a strategy that might not be tailor-made for the moment, which is why flexibility is needed,” says Martin. The more she reflects, the more she realizes most strategies arise at the moment; made up as she goes along.
“Later, the strategies become something you can pull upon when needed another time,” says Martin.
There have been times when Martin has been super present and realistic during a run, knowing that anything could change at the drop of a dime — and that served her well for the race and the end results.
And, there are more times when the going gets tough, she pretends she’s at a similar mile of a completely different race when all was going well there. “Basically, I’m running one race, but my mind is at another where I’m feeling better at that particular mile marker.”
Martin is fortunate, she says, to have stumbled across a book written in the early 1980s, “Mental Toughness Training,” by James Lohr, which has helped her grasp the understanding of mental training.
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Courtesy of Anne Griffin/annegriffin/Instagram
Anne Griffin: “Having a running buddy that encourages and challenges me is key for me mentally.”
Griffin said she would never run a marathon, but with the mental support of a friend, Griffin completed her first virtual marathon. When the mother of three comes to a point during her run where she feels done, she digs deep mentally and thinks about previous runs she’s completed; which brings her mental and physical energy. “I search my thoughts for conversations that were encouraging or ways I was positively challenged in my runs,” explains Griffin.
Griffin sets a goal for each run, whether it’s an everyday run, training run, or race day. But she doesn’t let her goals ruin her runs. “If I realize my goal or goals are out of reach, I reevaluate and adjust.” She says this helps alleviate mental pressure.
“Ultimately each run I finish is more than a run I didn’t start,” says Griffin.
She explains if she can keep that mentality going into the point of a run where she wants to be done, usually she prays, thinks through encouraging conversations, and positive “pushes” to not give up and break through to the other side.
“Each run is mine and mine alone,” Griffin says. She loves the running community, and it gives her a feeling like she is a part of a massive family; giving her more mental edge. There is strength in numbers!
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Courtesy of Colleen Young/colleenyoung0928/Instagram
Colleen Young: “I try to focus on the present mile.”
When Young looks at 26.2 as a whole, it is extremely daunting. (We can totally understand that feeling!) But, when she focuses on one mile at a time, it helps her mind stay focused on the present.
This past year, as Young trained for the Boston Marathon, she says she learned to become intentional with the act of gratitude and enjoying each moment.
“Rather than focusing on the pressure of pace or time, I shifted my mental focus to taking in the entire experience, as well as being grateful that I get to run!” Young says.
She adds: “It released so much pressure, and I was able to run happy [my current running mantra].”
Whether it’s a marathon, goal weight, PR, or recovery from an injury, maintaining a positive mindset is everything. If you train the mind as Young and the other athletes have proven, the body will follow to the finish line!
