Men’s Fitness UK – October 2019

IN FOCUS SELF-TALK

marathon

mantras

A 2015 surveyof 483

marathonrunners

found 88 percent

usedsomekindofself-

talkintheir races.

Themantrascouldbe

categorisedas BELOW...

Specificbodyparts:

“Mylegsfeelstrong.”

Positivity:

“Icandothis.”

Counteringnegativity:

“Don’tbepathetic– it'snot

thathard.”

Instructions:

“Kneehigh,footforward.”

Incentives:

“Twomoremiles,thena beer.”

Minigoals:

“Justgettothenextaidstation.”

Distraction:

Countingbackwards,orcounting

eachstep.

Spiritual:

“I’mluckytobedoingthiswhen

otherscan’t.”

Motivational:

“Makeyourselfproud.”

Booze boost: "Two more miles,

then a beer" is an example of

an incentive-based mantra

butmaybea couplefordierentmomentswhenyouare

strugglingwithdierentthings.Andas yougoalong,his

adviceis to“plan,practise,reectandthenadjust.”

IanSharmanis a BritishultrarunnerbasedintheUS.

Hehasrunover 200 ultrasandmarathons,andwonover 50

multi-dayraces,roadmarathons,trailandadventureraces.

Hehasa hugeamountoftimeinracestothink,andriskthe

negativethoughtstakingover,sohasbecomea bigadvocate

ofusinga positivemantra.Heuseshistoensurehedoesn't

giveupwhenthegoinggetstough.“Ifsomeoneis onmy

heelsorjustahead,I keeprepeatinginmyhead,‘Justkeep

pushing,’”hesays.“Itstopsmefromeasingoevena little,

sothatif theterraingetseasier,I kickit upa notch.”

Photography

Shutterstock / Drymax Socks

PERSONALISEDPOSITIVITY

 e key to getting the right mantra for you is emotion. We

are not looking for you to be  ghting o tears, but a lump

in the throat or butter ies in the stomach will tell you that

you have hit on something powerful enough to make a

motivational di erence. Our personality traits, upbringing,

experiences, environment and values mean we are all

motivated completely di erently, so this emotion cannot be

borrowed from anyone else. It needs to be based entirely on

your own reasons for competing. Most of us love winning

stu , having trophies to show o , medals to hang, or a

t-shirt to show we took part.  ese external motivations are

great, but the powerful stu comes from inside.  is is our

intrinsic motivation, and identifying it will lead to a mantra

that works brilliantly: something sustainable even if we’re

having a poor time on the pitch, or have plateaued in the

gym. It reminds us of what we want to achieve and, most

importantly, why we want to achieve it.

“A lump in the throat

or butter ies in the

stomach will tell you

that you have hit on

something powerful”

Cristo approaches

the end of his

epic 3,000-mile

cross-Atlantic row