Snow, Wilderness, and Building Mental Strength

Last week marked the last push before Chippewa 50k this coming weekend. The week was punctuated by some hard treadmill speed workouts, a couple easy runs, and a whole lot of snow. Thursday, I was slated to do a long threshold effort, but nature had some thoughts on that. When I arrived home, the snow was already over 8 inches deep and the wind was blowing at an unmotivating pace. Begrudgingly, I set out for a run to "embrace" the weather. Although I wasn't motivated, I was reminded of two things while running. The first was that even under the most intense conditions, you can always find beauty when focusing on the positives within your surroundings. Between the trees and wind off the lake, this was certainly true. The second was that banking some mentally tough runs are paramount for peak conditioning later in the year.

Mental training could be more important, if not the defining factor in a breakthrough performance. This is especially true in a longer endurance event with many outside influences that cannot be controlled. If you aren't mentally tough and ready to overcome obstacles, you may as well be physically unfit in my mind. How do you become mentally tough? Here are some suggestions that have worked for me in the past:

1. On slated "key" workout days, overcome external obstacles such as adverse weather or fatigue. Obviously it isn't bright to push through injury or illness, but anything else will strengthen you for race day.
2. Practice a mantra or altering your focus when things get painful. Racing isn't comfortable, but the memory of pain is temporary. In my experience, I never remember the pain for THAT long. I have had a number of mantras depending on the race distance. Usually, I focus them around relaxation and forward progress for a longer event.
3. Train for the conditions and know the course. I said this before coming out of Arizona, but was reminded of it again. Last weekend, the Chippewa 50k trail was under more than a foot of snow. This will definitely change the game plan entering this race. Just think if I wasn't prepared for that challenge mentally before entering...yikes!

Last Weeks Workouts: Last week I ran around 66 miles total, which is about 10% lower than the last 5 weeks. Instead of taking a rest or cross training day, I opted for 4X1 mile repeats at 10.7 mph on the treadmill Friday. This was great mentally as Thursday's 12 mile threshold run was pretty slow with a sloppy foot of snow underfoot. Saturday, I had the opportunity to scout the Chippewa course. It took around 2+ hrs to run 13-14 miles thanks to the heavy snow in the woods. It was nice to enjoy the scenery though.

This coming week I will be taking it easy prior to race day. Hoping it warms up a touch to make the course a bit more runnable in sections!