I modified my article on the Big Climb, training for the toughest double centuries.  I added in this section:

The Mental Challenge

Any very difficult ultra distance event will challenge you not only physically but also mentally. When things do not go quite as expected, such as warmer weather than you trained for, overcoming the mental challenge will make the difference between two riders, who who decides to DNF (did not finish) and one who finishes the event. Of course there are times when the smart thing is to stop, but when things get rough it is a great temptation to say the smart thing is to quit when we have the ability to go on.

I once had trained for a marathon that was known for his long downhills. Unlike cycling where the downhill is a chance to rest and recovery, in running it gives your legs a real pounding. I thought I had trained for the event properly, including some long downhill training runs.

At about mile 6 of 26.2, I felt my legs starting to cry for mercy. I was frighten on what to do since in my training runs I never had such an issue so early in the run. How could I possibly run another 20 miles like this? The thought came to me that I had worked too long and too hard to stop now. I had to decide between letting the situation cause me such grief that I would slow down or stop, or I could decide to just ignore the legs and hold the pace. I choose the later and was able to not only run strong but have a very strong finish. The difference for me for this marathon was overcoming the mental challenge. During your training you will have some chances to practice overcoming the mental challenge. If you find yourself quiting during uncomfortable training sessions, you might question what you will do when you face a significantly greater mental challenge. If you are not prepared to overcome the mental challenge, then the Big Climb may not be the right event for you.

Categories: Training Log
No Comments »