BOOK CLUB: MENTAL TRAINING FOR ULTRA RUNNING

MENTAL TRAINING FOR ULTRARUNNING

YOUR PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS GUIDEBOOK FOR ULTRA SUCCESS

BY ADDIE BRACY

Running in general is a hard task as it is. Hit the trails or go beyond marathon distance, and we’ve known runners to physically break barriers beyond our comprehension.

There are books galore and articles throughout the entire world wide web on how to train for your first race, but there’s not much out there to help you get through the psychological challenges of ultra running.

Until you pick up Mental Training for Ultrarunning: Your Psychological Skills Guidebook for Ultra Success by Addie Bracy, a distance runner with a background in performance psychology. Throughout her publication, she outlines tools and techniques you can use to protect yourself from unfortunate scenarios, and provides suggestions on how to overcome the mental and emotional challenges you may be confronted with on the trails. In her words, “Knowing ahead of time the biggest mental threats you’ll face gives you the opportunity to prepare for them,” and I couldn’t agree more.

Bracy begins with an entire chapter dedicated to explaining why psychological breakdowns happen in ultrarunning, focusing first on how to mentally and emotionally get through the disappointing performances and DNFs that are caused by the presence of mental deficits, not physical inability (that comes at a later chapter).

As runners, we know firsthand how hard our sport can be, and once you start talking to others openly about your experiences, you’ll realise that even some of the most experienced and talented athletes have thought of quitting in the middle of a race. Bracy explains that while you can’t necessarily prevent those thoughts from happening, you can 100 per cent plan for how to deal with them when they arise, and Mental Training for Ultrarunning can help you get there.

Like many other books and articles that get you to find your ‘why’, Bracy’s does the same – however I don’t think I’ve ever come across a publication that goes as in-depth as hers, and her explanation of its importance is spot on.

“Most of us don’t line up only for the PRs; if that were the case, we probably would have walked away from the sport a long time ago,” she writes.

“Every athlete has a reason for why they keep showing up, and it’s something that should be owned and fostered.”

Each chapter can very likely be given its own book, but there is only so much Bracy can fit into the one publication. From managing your stress response to learning how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, it’s a lot of information to absorb. My advice is to read each chapter on its own, take it all in, and come back for another chapter some days later.

But the question still remains, how does Mental Training for Ultrarunning prepare you? Bracy includes a number of mental skills training exercises which look at competence, autonomy and relatedness, and she delves quite deeply into topics like willpower, strategy and self-control. One of my favourite chapters is all about adaptability, where she explains the difference between reaction and response as well as making sure you don’t mistake stubbornness for toughness. Knowing when to stop, rest and reboot is also heavily featured in this chapter – we’ve all had those times where we’ve dug into our heels and pushed even harder to get to the end of the race. But sometimes it’s important to acknowledge when you might need to take a breather.

“Things like stress and fatigue narrow your focus,” she writes. “You start to miss cues and are more likely to make mistakes. Sometimes one of the best things you can do to help your mind reassess and adapt to a situation is to take a step back.”

As mentioned, there is a lot to take in when reading Mental Training for Ultrarunning, and one of the advantages is that Brady’s style of writing has allowed for ease of understanding – no scientific language. Just pure, wholesome easy-toread paragraphs.

So whether you’re training for your first ultra or looking to compete at a higher level, Mental Training for Ultrarunning will prepare you for the good, the bad and the worst experiences you might encounter on the trails.