Training your mind - Dr Jonathan King
| Sports psychology is
not new, as athletes have motivated themselves for centuries. However, one needs to know the difference between mental strength and running wisdom. Most of us know the pain when competing in a marathon or triathlon. Average recovery time from an event like a marathon may be three months, until you have the mental and physical reserve to race again. Former world record holder for the marathon, Derek Clayton (2:08:33) trained up to 320 km a week until injuries plagued his career. It seems that each runner has his or her optimal training load. Research has found that excessive training distance is associated with the "overtraining syndrome", rather than increased training intensity. We can all be competitive within our abilities. But we will only know what we are capable of achieving when we have tried our best. Failure to live up to our own expectations can damage our self-image. On the other hand, having modest short to medium term goals will improve our chances of success! It takes a great deal of self-belief to be a champion, especially if one wishes to make a career of our sport. For most of us, exercise has its place in our lives as parents, students, employees, etc. Researchers found that adults who exercised regularly for at least four years had greater energy, patience, humour, ambition, and emotional stability than those who have been sedentary. However there may still be a few crazy people amongst us! Dangers of training include becoming obsessed with training, disordered eating habits, selfishness, and neuroticism. A degree of obsession is needed when training for a marathon or triathlon, but when this adversely affects our family and social life, problems can arise. We all learn from experience, but a little wisdom can help us avoid problems! |