[Editor’s Note: This article was written by guest contributor Nickademus de la Rosa, a mental performance consultant with a master’s degree in Sports and Performance Psychology from the University of Western States. He’s also an accomplished endurance athlete, having placed second at Italy’s Tor des Géants in 2014 and winning the Barkley Marathons in 2013.]
If the psychological recreation makes up a giant a part of ending a 100-mile occasion, what portion do psychological elements play into the more and more standard 200-plus-mile distance races? And extra curiously, what makes multi-day occasions psychologically distinct from their extra widespread 100-mile counterparts?
Multi-day occasions, in contrast to most 100-mile races that require no a couple of evening of sleep deprivation, final for a number of days and nights. And in contrast to stage races, the clock by no means stops whether or not athletes are transferring, sleeping, or resting. Some standard multi-day occasions embody the Moab 240 Mile, Tahoe 200 Mile, Tor des Géants, and La Petite Trotte à Léon — generally referred to as the PTL. Whereas stage races, such because the TransRockies Run, might cowl related distances as steady multi-day occasions, they’ve distinct every day levels adopted by an opportunity to sleep and relaxation, making them a complete totally different recreation.
There are a number of psychological facets that make these continuous multi-day occasions uniquely difficult. Many of those variations come up from the truth that most 200 milers, and occasions like Massive Canine’s Yard Extremely or the Barkley Marathons, can’t be accomplished in a single 24-hour interval, which suggests athletes need to be awake and centered for a number of days and nights. Of the a number of challenges confronted by athletes trying multi-day occasions, sleep deprivation, isolation, and tedium are the most typical and infrequently felt at a lot a better diploma than in 100-mile occasions.
Ihor Verys wins the 2024 Barkley Marathons on his first try in a time of 58 hours, 44 minutes, and 59 seconds. Picture: Howie Stern
Sleep Deprivation
Although not by definition a facet of psychology, sleep deprivation and its affect on the mind and cognitive perform characterize one of many largest variations between multi-day occasions and different ultramarathon codecs. Most human beings require between seven and 9 hours of sleep per evening for optimum well being and functioning. In 2019, Corrine Malcolm wrote an in-depth piece on the significance of sleep in coaching, racing, and total efficiency. Nevertheless, so as to both end the occasions earlier than cut-offs or keep a aggressive edge, athletes in these multi-day occasions should go days with out satisfactory sleep. Whereas a single evening of sleep deprivation throughout a 100-mile effort is one factor, a second evening and not using a sleep is far more troublesome to cope with.
Tolerance for sleep deprivation and particular person sleep wants differ immensely between athletes. Some, like Ihor Verys, winner of the 2024 Barkley Marathons, are able to operating for practically 60 hours straight with no sleep. Others, equivalent to Jeff Browning, who positioned second on the 2024 Cocodona 250 Mile and has gained a number of 100-mile occasions, together with the 2018 Hardrock 100, have a extra built-in sleep plan for his or her occasions.
The precept affect of sleep deprivation on the mind arises from a disconnect between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala (1). The prefrontal cortex controls our capability to assume rationally, make choices, keep motivation by remembering our “why,” and management our feelings. After we are sleep-deprived, the amygdala takes over, and our decision-making, connection to our “why,” inside motivation, and emotional management all plummet (1).
Rachel Entrekin, this 12 months’s winner of the Cocodona 250 Mile, stated upon reflecting on the psychological toll sleep deprivation on motivation, “I recall getting midway up Mount Elden towards the tip of the race and considering, ‘I’m accomplished.’”
Rachel Entrekin battling sleep deprivation on her strategy to profitable the 2024 Cocodona 250 Mile. Picture courtesy of Rachel Entrekin.
“One little fallacious resolution attributable to sleep deprivation will cascade into a giant mistake, which, in flip, can value you the race,” says Verys. “Runners neglect their what and their why. A few of them even find yourself forgetting their names.”
Sleep deprivation can result in a lack of emotional resilience and will erode one’s unique motivations for enterprise the occasion within the first place.
Isolation
Tolerating lengthy intervals of time alone, each bodily and emotionally, is a essential part of multi-day occasions. Help stations, crew, and pacers — if even allowed — are sometimes many extra miles or hours other than extra standard-distance ultras. Some runners thrive on this time spent alone, whereas others need to strategize so as to keep away from intense emotions of loneliness.
Three-time Barkley Marathons finisher John Kelly stated, “I truly benefit from the isolation more often than not, however that is the place it’s generally troublesome for me to maintain aggressive targets in thoughts.” He speculated on his capability to tolerate isolation, but additionally his battle with it and stated, “It’s one motive why I believe I’ve accomplished properly on supported quickest recognized occasions and a motive I’d lose any form of aggressive give attention to loop 5 at Barkley [Marathons] the place my “competitors” goes the wrong way.”
To fight among the loneliness all through these lengthy miles, some athletes have to develop particular strategies to maintain their give attention to the purpose. Kevin Goldberg, who has accomplished a dozen 200-mile races, experiences these acute bouts of loneliness. “I get lonely on a regular basis on the market,” stated Goldberg. “A whole lot of these races are in very distant locations. Fortunately, it’s 2024, and oftentimes, I do have cell service. If I do, I wish to name individuals and join with family and friends I could not have spoken with lately.”
Kevin Goldberg will typically name up family and friends throughout later hours of a multi-day effort to fight loneliness. Picture courtesy of Kevin Goldberg.
Boredom
Boredom, distraction, a wandering thoughts — none of those are distinctive to multi-day occasions, they usually occur in to runners in ultras of practically any distance. Nevertheless, the period of multi-day occasions, typically lasting over 60 hours, typically require a better stage of psychological resilience and a extra sturdy skillset to fight the elevated stage of boredom that comes together with hours of motion. Lots of the athletes interviewed for this text didn’t essentially assume a wandering thoughts was a foul factor.
Galen Reynolds, who positioned second on the 2023 Tor des Géants, a 205-mile race in Italy, stated of his wandering thoughts, “If it’s on a portion of the race that may require some focus, like operating down a mountain, I’m blissful for the thoughts to get lost to something. This doesn’t affect my velocity.” Nevertheless, Reynolds famous that generally a wandering thoughts may end up in a lower in his tempo, just because his focus isn’t there.
Equally, Browning said, “I let my thoughts movement and wander the place it might, so long as it’s constructive. If I am going detrimental, it’s time to refocus. Typically you want sleep, generally you want energy, and generally you simply should be powerful on your self and alter it. No excuses.”
Psychological Abilities Improvement for Multi-Day Occasions
There are a few totally different strategies that may be helpful for staying centered because the hours and miles add up in a multi-day occasion. Practising these strategies in low-stress, non-race conditions can assist make them second nature and simpler to make use of when wanted.
“Be Right here Now”
Presentness, mindfulness — we’ve all heard these phrases utilized in one context or one other, however the significance of those abilities in multi-day races can’t be overstated. Athletes at these occasions should stay current amidst an ever-ticking clock, declining cognitive perform, mounting fatigue, sleep deprivation, out-of-control feelings, high-stakes competitors, and seemingly countless miles.
Although troublesome to imitate the precise circumstances of a multi-day occasion, the mindfulness “muscle” could be developed day by day and in practically each second. When working with athletes, a method I depend on is the “assume out loud” protocol (2). I counsel athletes to go on a run, and through the course of the exercise, document three 30-second movies voicing no matter they’re considering out loud. By training being conscious of their ideas, athletes can higher perceive what goes by means of their minds and whether or not it’s serving to or hindering their total efficiency.
Ihor Verys (left) begins one other lap on the 2023 Massive Canine’s Yard Extremely. Picture courtesy of Ihor Verys.
Segmentation and Compartmentalization
Segmentation, the method of breaking down huge final result targets into smaller bite-sized items, is likely one of the most cited and utilized abilities for getting by means of multi-day occasions.
“[Segmentation] is much more essential in multi-days than in ‘regular’ size ultras,” says Kelly. “Deal with the subsequent checkpoint, the subsequent hill, the subsequent seen landmark. I additionally like to repeatedly divide [a race distance] in half, and every time I hit that midway level, fake it’s a brand new race and don’t take into consideration what I’ve already accomplished. As I get extra drained, these halves get shorter.”
Jonathan van Geuns, who was eighth on the 2024 Cocodona 250 Mile says, “Compartmentalization is a standard tactic that works properly for me, and I wish to take that just a few dimensions additional by not solely dividing the race up in items and specializing in the second but additionally implement new methods and making sections of the race totally different, like choosing up the tempo at extra runnable sections.” Van Geuns additional defined, “This implies you have got one thing to look ahead to or one thing to mentally put together for, and by doing so, keep within the second.”
Course of Targets
As I coach athletes getting ready for multi-day occasions, I’ve them define all of their final result targets, after which we work collectively to interrupt these down into actionable, controllable course of targets that may be centered on within the second. For instance, an athlete might wish to end the Cocodona 250 Mile in below 80 hours, which is an final result purpose.
This will stay a purpose, however I can even encourage the athlete to create course of targets that maximize their possibilities of reaching their final result purpose. These course of targets may appear to be consuming 70 to 80 grams of carbohydrates per hour, training an energetic progressive muscle rest each half-hour, or serious about the race by way of operating assist station to assist station, versus begin to end.
John Kelly and Gary Robbins beginning loop 3 of Barkley Marathons in 2017. Picture: Jessi Kelly
Overcoming Psychological Challenges
There are an immense variety of psychological elements at play in multi-day occasions. When pushing the physique by means of a number of days on finish, most athletes should endure sleep deprivation, lack of motivation, boredom, and loneliness, amongst different elements. Fortunately, there are diversifications, abilities, and strategies that athletes can make use of to beat these psychological challenges and enhance their efficiency. These abilities embody segmentation, compartmentalization, staying current, and creating course of targets along with final result targets.
Extremely skilled with staying centered for lengthy intervals of time, Reynolds explains that whereas every of those abilities requires totally different talents, all of them begin with “staying calm, remembering what I’m doing, and refocusing on achievable targets.”
Name for Feedback
- Have you ever personally used any of the above-mentioned psychological abilities in your coaching or racing?
- What do you understand your psychological energy at ultramarathons to be?
References
- Khan, M., & Al-Jahdali, H. (2023). The results of sleep deprivation on cognitive efficiency. King Abdullah Worldwide Medical Analysis Middle, 28(2), 91–99. https://doi.org/10.17712/nsj.2023.2.20220108
- Ericsson KA, Simon HA. 1980. Verbal stories as knowledge. Psychol Rev. 87(3):215–251. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.87.3.215.
