Column 43, September 2011

Self-belief

– the key to enjoyment and success in running

"All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions" - J.F. Clarke.

"You are what you eat" is a term I’ve been familiar with - especially having trained as a Dietitian - for a very long time, but the older I get the more evidence I gather to support the belief that who we are, or our reality, is a result of our thoughts and beliefs.

There is no doubt that the mind is a powerful force, but it can be both our best friend and our worst enemy..

John Landy and Roger Bannister - 1954 British Empire Games

The story of the first sub 4 minute mile can be used to illustrate this; in 1945 the world record for the mile stood at 4:01.3. Inevitably, then, attention turned to the sub-4 minute mile, though many doctors believed it was physiologically impossible, if not lethal.

One particular athlete – John Landy - agonizingly tried for 2 years (1952-1954) to crack this barrier, running 4:02.8 – 4:02.1 on 6 occasions.

After the last of these occasions John said “Frankly, I think the four-minute mile is beyond my capabilities. Two seconds may not sound like much, but to me it’s like trying to break through a brick wall. Someone may achieve the four-minute mile the world is wanting so desperately, but I don’t think I can”.

On 6 May, 1954, 9 years after the 4:01.3 record was set, Roger Bannister was that someone, clocking 3:59.4 at Oxford. But here’s the fascinating part; only 46 days later John Landy also broke the 4-minute barrier, running 3:57.9! Four seconds faster than he’d ever done before! Over the next 6 years 20 others went on to break the 4-minute mile.

Exercise physiologists Ross Tucker & Jonathon Dugas feel this story “…illustrates the value of belief, confidence and mental preparation… while highlighting how detrimental to performance things like self-doubt, anxiety and excess expectation can be”.

All of us have continuous thoughts flowing through our conscious minds, both positive and negative. ‘Mindpower’ author – John Kehoe – explains that the sub-conscious mind - responsible for our bodily functions, beliefs, intuition etc - is like ‘fertile soil’, and whatever ‘seed’ or thought you consistently ‘plant’ will ‘grow’. In other words, ‘you reap what you sow’.

Beliefs are created this way and translated into physical terms - just think back to John Landys physical feat when he suddenly believed the sub-4 minute mile was possible.

John Kehoe goes on to say that our subconscious mind does not discriminate between good and bad, ‘fact’ and ‘fiction’. Whatever it is told by the conscious mind on a regular basis with feeling and emotion, it believes.

This should be good news though, because it means we have the power to manipulate our thoughts and beliefs and therefore positively influence our physical and emotional responses.

As Dr Kerry Spackman – author of The Winners Bible – puts it:“your thoughts can actually alter your brain’s biochemistry and wiring. In other words, you can re-wire your brain… develop new circuits… that will help you perform better”

Techniques to improve self-belief when practised daily

1. Become aware of any negative or self-destructive thoughts by keeping a daily log. You may find certain thoughts occur regularly. For example:

"I had a bad sleep last night so I’m probably not going to run well today"
“I never run well in the heat”
“That hill is gonna hurt like hell”
“He always beats me”
“If I don’t win this race I will disappoint my coach/parent/partner/sponsor…”
“The sub-4 minute mile is impossible”

2. Turn negative thoughts into productive positive thoughts/affirmations. Remember you don’t have to believe them initially – you may even start laughing at yourself, which has a positive effect too! - but if repeated regularly the sub-conscious will allow the thought to grow. Affirmations should always be written in the positive, and be short so they can easily be remembered and repeated. For example:

“I’m excited to get out and run today”
“What a beautiful day to run”
“That hill is where I can prove my strength and make a move”
“Today is my turn to win”
“I am going to run a race that satisfies my own soul”
“Roger blimmin Bannister ran a sub-4 and I kick his ass!!”
(opps…maybe that should be re-written in the positive…)

3. Look for evidence to support your new belief For example: I would like to believe it is possible to race an Olympic qualifying time in my 40’s, so I have kept clippings, read books, spoken to coaches etc about athletes in their 40’s and beyond who have been highly successful in sport.

4. Acknowledge and celebrate past successes. If we only ever focus on the goals we have yet to achieve, we overlook the things we have already accomplished, which can give us a mental and physical boost.

5. Visualise – take time to relax and clearly see yourself successfully achieving the results you want (like an internal self-promotion video clip). Make it detailed, and as if it’s happening to you now.

The effects of visualisation can be illustrated by a psych study on student basketball players; for a month, group 1 practised shooting hoops daily, group 2 ceased practice, and group 3 spent 30mins/day visualising themselves shooting hoops successfully. While group 2 unsurprisingly did not improve, group 3 improved by 24% - as much as group 1.

6. Emotionalise - after visualising, try and then feel what it would be like to have successfully achieved your goal. Would you feel elated, excited, relieved, or confident? Being able to emotionally connect to the visuals you have created creates more powerful beliefs.

7. Take action as far as I am aware, there is not a single Olympic gold medal winner who has succeeded through mind power alone. But I can also say that when you learn to use these techniques, the desire to train and race is enhanced, and the experience becomes more enjoyable.

So, remember to use positive self-talk (think), create vivid/emotive images of yourself succeeding (believe), and take action on a daily basis (do).

To enjoyable and successful running!

Marnie Oberer