What’s your Power Animal?

I could not make it to Paris to cheer on members of the Team in Training Brooklyn team as they completed the Paris marathon (they rocked the course, just in case you were wondering). So as I waited here in the States I entertained myself with my newest past time, googling myself. I admit it is geeky, but I think we call need to embrace our inner geek. So while scrolling through the various websites that have a vague reference to my name, I came across the site http://www.isthisyour.name/. I learned a few things about my name from this site, for starters my name means “famous in battle.” However, by far the most exciting thing I learned about myself is that power animal is the Kalahari Meerkat!

Power Animal’s made famous by the movie Fight Club (I think Ed Norton’s power animal was a penguin…I think the Meerkat could take a penguin any day), seems to me to be an example of New Age psychology gone awry. But could having a power animal make you a better runner? Well, my professional opinion (did I mention that I am doctor) is a resounding NO! However, we can learn few things power animals. The idea of a power animal speaks to the most well known mental skill that that athletes use to improve their performance, visualization. Whereas Ed Norton’s character used the image of a pegiun to relax and forget about his troubles, runners can use visualization can enhance your performance by recreating in your “mind’s eye” the experience of performing.
However, unlike its name, visualization is a lot more than just imagining yourself running a PR. Instead, visualization is better described as “mental practice” as it calls upon all of your senses (vision, smell, sound, touch, and taste) to simulate the experience of running.

That means in your minds idea painting a picture that recreates not only what you see along the course and the runners around you, but also the sounds of your foot steps, how your dryfit shirt feels against your chest, the mixing of smells such as Bodyglide, deodorant, and Bengay, the taste of Gatorade in your mouth and most importantly the feeling of your body in motion as you swing your arms and turn over your feet.

The more vivid your images the better,as far your brain is concerned because it begins to blur the line between what is real and what is in your head. In fact, research has shown that when you are mentally practicing an action you activate the same muscles fibers and brain regions that you would be using if you were actually performing the action your were imagining

When using mental practice pretend that your are a movie director and you are filming yourself run. However, unlike typical filmaking you are filming it through your own eyes from what we call an internal perspective. Like any good director you are in control so only create the experiences and images of what you want to occur. Remember is you are unable to mentally see and feel yourself running a 8:15 mile feeling strong and pain free you will not be able to do it in real life.

Mental practice is a very powerful mental skill that when used correctly can produce substantial results for you. Just like learning how to swing your arms, mental practice is a skill. The more your practice this skill the better you will become at using mental practice and the greater the impact on your performance. To help create vivid and controllable images I record myself as I talk myself through a run making sure I include details that will tap into all my senses.

Also, when I run I have several images that I use to improve my running form and efficiency. For example, by imagining there is a pole sticking out of the inside of my ankle and with each step I need to lift up my opposite foot to make sure I don’t trip on the pole. Or if possible before a race I walk, run, or take a cab ride through the last quarter of the course so that I am more familiar with the course , taking note of the details along the course such as landmarks, trees, buildings, etc. The idea is that the more familiar I am with the roads and trails I will be traveling, the more comfortable I will be through the race thus running faster and stronger.
Next time I go out for I run maybe, I should visualize myself as Meerkat scurrying across the Kalahari with the sun fuelling my every step. Maybe there is something to this power animal thing!

What images do you find help you with your running?

Tip One: Find Your Young/Old Lady!

Running is a great way to meet that special someone, heck that is how I met Dawn (and her cat) and she is eight years younger than me, but that is a story for another blog. This blog is about how your mind can become the best running partner you ever had with straightforward techniques that can easily be adapted into your everyday runs.

So let’s get started. Mastering the mental game of running starts with how you make sense of your experiences. Take a look at the image to the right. What do you see? It’s not a trick, okay maybe it is, there are two images a Young Woman and an Old Lady. Can you see them both? For me the Old Lady with her big nose looking down, always jumps out first. To see the Young Woman I have to focus and turn the tip of the Old Lady’s nose into the bottom of the Young Woman’s chin as if she is turning away. Why is this important and what does it have to do with running? This illusion is a metaphor to highlight the point that in every situation there is more than meets the eye. In the Young Woman/Old Lady illusion the image does not change but depending on what aspects of the image you focus on and its context to the rest of the image, the meaning of the image changes.

The same is true with running. With every run you have the power to take away what you want from both physically and psychologically from that run, by choosing what to focus on.

So for example, on a tempo run if all you can think about how you are sucking wind and are out of shape, chances are you are going to slow down and finish feeling crappy. However, on the other hand if you Find Your Young Woman and if you approach this experience as a chance to grind through a difficult run to make yourself mentally stronger you will likely finish feeling more positive and confident you can get through difficult runs. When I am having a tough run I use the mantra “Find Your Young Woman” to remind myself to change my focus to something more positive.

Welcome to my Blog!

Whether you are a casual weekend runner or die hard marathoner logging a hundred plus miles a week, you already know that running is just as much mental as it is physical. This blog focuses on mental side of running. Specifically, how runners can develop the mental skills to run faster, stronger, and longer smashing PRs and finishing feeling strong and with a smile on your face.

With each post, I will share the mental skills and strategies I have learned throughout my experiences as a coach, sport psychologist, and most importantly a runner.

So what percentage of your running performance is in your head? Log your vote in the survey to the right!

----Luis