Since the dawn of man, humanity has been faced with the challenges of life. Running is one of those activities that enhances your focus and leaves you with a positive message to deal with those challenges.
Looking at mental toughness gives an insight to the psychological conditioning of the individual as they approach running challenges whether competing or just exercising.
Today I want to look and explore the idea of mental toughness as a runner. Going the distance to get the desired results is the ultimate goal but each day that you face the test, you have to make your mind up if you are going the full distance or not. This will help you to be focus not only for running the distance but also for the challenges of life itself.
I remember as a young sprinter, part of our training was to cover a certain terrain that was about five or six miles long and more than half of the distance was hills. Each time we did this particular run as a team there would be different results for each individual. Although the top six runners remain the same, the order of that six would be different depending on the condition of the runner on the day. The condition of each individual would also include the tactical approach and the mental toughness of each runner.
The qualities that allow people to cultivate mental toughness are a collection of psychological and physical factors that include discipline and self-belief. These dispositions allow a person to persevere through difficult circumstances (such as training and, or competitive situations in games) which might otherwise knock a competitors confidence.
Mental Toughness is a debatable topic as coaches and sports commentators’ use the term liberally to refer to any set of positive attributes that helps a person to cope with difficult situations. However, within only the last ten years scientific research has been attempted to form a more defined condition of mental toughness.
A special note should be made, however, that the psychological and physical readiness of an individual plays a very important role in the feature of mental toughness. This generates good alignment between the physical and mental sides of fitness that enhance the full motion of the body when achieving your goals.
Mental toughness is a must for your desired results.
by Rupert Brown, proud Jamaican runner.
