Mental strategies for Ultras

Mental Strategies for Ultramarathons: How to Handle those Hard Moments!

If you’ve run an ultramarathon, you already know that at some point, things are going to get hard! Maybe it happens once, maybe twice, or maybe you find yourself moving through a series of difficult moments throughout the race. It might be nausea, tired legs, a drop in motivation, a pace that feels way too slow, or simply your body shouting that it just doesn't want to take another step.

Whatever form they take, the difficult moments are coming. So the more tools you have in your mental toolkit, the better equipped you'll be to deal with them when they arrive!

You have (some) control!

One of the last ultras I ran was a beautiful mountain race: 70km and 4,000m of ascent. It wasn't especially technical, but it was hot and exposed with few water points so I knew it was going to be a challenging day

Before the race, I made a deal with myself. When things got difficult, I would ask myself two questions: Am I sick? Am I injured?

By sick, I didn't mean the nausea or tiredness that comes with pushing yourself. I meant genuinely sick. Had I suddenly developed bronchitis or pneumonia? Was there something medically wrong that meant I shouldn't continue? It was highly unlikely, yes, but I wanted to have that question in my head so that I could distinguish between feeling terrible because I was running an ultra and feeling terrible because something was actually wrong.

The second question was about injury. Again, I wasn't thinking about normal discomfort (if you're running an ultramarathon, you’ve signed up for some aches!) I was asking myself whether there was something that felt fundamentally different — something that made me think I could do myself some real damage by continuing.

I decided that if the answer to both questions was “no”, then there was no reason for me to quit. It meant that in some way the problem I was dealing with had a mental component - there were choices I could make and in some way I had some control. 

This awareness of control underpins our ability to problem solve. If you feel like you have no choices and nothing’s under your control, it's very easy to become passive. You can start to feel like a victim of the situation, that things are happening to you as you feel increasingly  tired / muddy / sweaty / sore / slightly sorry for yourself. Once you get into that mindset it’s really easy to lose perspective. Instead, try asking yourself: What can I control here? What choices do I have? What can I change?

That small shift can move you from feeling overwhelmed by a problem to viewing it as a challenge to solve. Rather than being a victim, you become an agent who can make decisions and exercise control over the situation. 

Creating choice in your next race

Let's take nausea as an example. I get horrible nausea when I'm running and it's something I’m still learning to manage. When it comes on, my first reaction isn't particularly objective, it’s normally along the lines of; “I feel sick. This is horrible. I don't want to feel like this. How can I go on another 8 hours feeling like this?!”

And that's okay. We can take a moment to acknowledge how unpleasant something feels. But then try to take a step back and assess the choices and control you have in that situation. “I have nausea? Interesting. So what are all the things I can do about it?” For example: 

Do I want something salty or sweet at the next aid station? 

Which flavour gel do I want? (you need to prepare and have brought options!) 

I’m going to reduce my effort level for 10 minutes and see if that helps.

I’m going to rinse my mouth with liquid carbs and spit them out (this sends a message to the brain that you have taken in carbs even when you haven’t!)

I can sip some water every 5 minutes.

When did I last take salt tabs? Do I need another one?

Am I over-heating? I could wet my cap in the fountain, use a wet sponge, or put on a cap.

Showing yourself that you have choices and creating a situation you can experiment with gives a sense of autonomy. Rather than feeling helpless you've moved yourself into a position where you can make decisions.

The same thing applies to tired legs. Even if your legs feel trashed, ask yourself whether you can still take one more step. You can? Great - so can you make it to the next tree? You might decide to count 50 steps on your right leg and then reassess the situation. You might decide to run for a minute and walk for a minute, slow your pace, stop briefly and stretch. You could take another gel or change your fueling. Notice your posture and gait. Could you stand straighter? Could you swing your arms more efficiently? Are you walking with purpose or meandering? Suddenly with all these options your brain has something positive to fix on! 

Try cognitive distancing

When you’re evaluating the situation, a useful trick can be to use something called cognitive distancing, which is essentially about creating a little bit of psychological space between yourself and what you're experiencing.

Instead of thinking, “I’m tired”, try talking to yourself in the second person: “You’re tired.” You can even go as far as using the third person: “Lauren's tired.” What advice would you give Lauren (yourself!) in that situation? Would you tell her to give up because she’s tired? Of course not, you would come up with a whole list of suggestions for her to try! 

It sounds strange, but that small change in language can help you become more objective. You're no longer completely immersed in the experience; you're observing it. And when you can observe something rather than being completely consumed by it, it's often easier to make a good decision about what to do next.

Don't just visualise the perfect race… visualise the bad things happening!

Visualization is another strategy we hear a lot about. Usually, when we talk about visualization, we're talking about imagining everything going brilliantly: crossing the finish line with a leap and a smile, getting your medal, feeling amazing. When you’re sitting on the sofa at home it’s very easy to imagine yourself prancing up the climbs like Kilian and dancing down the technical descents.

There's nothing wrong with that, but there's another part of visualization that is really important: visualize things going badly. This isn’t to be gloomy or negative but if you only imagine the perfect race, you can create a huge expectation that things are going to feel that way. Then, when the inevitable hard moment arrives, it can feel as though something has gone wrong because there is a gap between what you imagined and the reality.

Instead, imagine yourself having a terrible patch. Imagine the nausea, the tired legs, or looking at your watch and realising you're much slower than you expected. Then ask yourself: What am I going to do when that happens? The goal isn't to visualise suffering for the sake of suffering; it's to rehearse your response to it. Make a mental list of all the choices you will have in that moment and, importantly, prepare beforehand so you have all the things you might want or need with you! In this way when that difficult moment arrives, it isn't completely unfamiliar. You've already thought about it, you've already considered your options, and you're ready to act.

We know there will be hard moments - we sign up and choose to race because we want to challenge ourselves, we want to learn how to deal with those challenges! However this takes practise - all runners can improve their mental toolkit and become better problem solvers!