Brain barriers can cripple an otherwise great run or race. Get through them by training for mind and body alike.
Some people call them crazy. Some say they're selfish. But distance runners and endurance athletes say they are just doing what comes naturally. Not only can their bodies handle the physical demands of their chosen sport, but they've trained their minds to accept it.

So whether you're planning to run the Chicago Lakefront 50K George Cheung Memorial Race in a few weeks, the Chicago Marathon in the fall or a summer 5K, it's never too early-or too late-to stretch the muscle between your ears and prepare for the challenge ahead.

"A lot of running is mental," says Chicago ultrarunner Scott Jacaway. "You need the physical part, but when you go long distance, it becomes a mental thing." Jacaway started running ultras about five years ago. In that time, he's completed more than 40 races ranging in distance from 50K to 100 miles. And he has the right attitude to do it: "I'm not one of the top runners out there," he says matter- of-factly. "But you don't have to finish first, you just have to finish. That's my philosophy."

For Beth Onines, an ultrarunner and the executive director for Illinois Runs training programs, it's a game of mind over matter. "Once I get to a certain point, I say 'OK, after this point I'm going to step it into gear,' and I pretend it's a 10K and run it in."

"The first 50 miles are all physical. The second 50 are all mental," says ultrarunner Stephanie Ehret, who won the 2003 Javelina Jundred in 17:38 and placed third overall at the 2004 IUA 24 Hour World Challenge. The distance has never been a problem for her physically. "As a runner, the longer the race is, the better I get and the stronger I feel," she says. Mentally, she has to train for it. Ehret says her desire to compete-and complete-long distance runs is a key component to her mental training.

Refocus

"You've got to get yourself mentally to Never-Neverland," says Stuart Schulman, a former marathoner and ultrarunner who now serves as the race director for Chicago's Lakefront 50K George Cheung Memorial Race and the Chicago 50K/50M. When he ran, he says he'd refocus his mind off the race and onto something else, like the scenery, "so you don't concentrate on your misery. And then you just wake up five miles later."

"It's the peacefulness when you're out in nature," Ehret adds. "There is something about being in motion and feeling my own heart beating and the sweat running down my face." Tuning in to those kinds of physical reactions helps take her mind off the mechanics of running and concentrate on what it means to be out there. "It makes me feel more alive, more human."

It's that ability to switch focus that helps ultrarunners go the distance. Their mental approach to running helps them maintain their goals on and off the road. And while 50 or 100-mile races are not for everyone, every runner usually has a mental roadblock to overcome, whether it's a 5K, a 5-mile, a half marathon or a sprint.

Love the burn

"Find comfort in discomfort," says Fliegelman. "During a race, if we're pushing ourselves, we're going to feel a level of discomfort." It might be in your legs, it might be in your lungs. Either way, when you accept the pain and even embrace it, you will run to the best of you ability, Fliegelman says. "The less experienced runners are with discomfort, the more likely they will find a moderately comfortable pace on race day and just hope that it's the right pace. And, as often as not, they get to the finish line and say, 'I could have gone faster.'"

Buck up

"Most people under-perform in races," says acclaimed coach and sports psychologist Bobby McGee, who has coached Olympic champions such as Barb Lindquist, Colleen De Reuck and Josiah Thugwane. In fact, McGee says, only nine percent of athletes perform up to their potential. Not only are they fearful of being too uncomfortable during the race, they're fearful of falling short of their race goal and as a result, they psych themselves out of a good performance, says McGee. "There's a weight of expectation. People become attached to a certain outcome in a race. They run with a brick in their back pocket and end up putting too much stress on themselves."

"Most people don't realize they're tougher than they think they are," Jacaway says. "Just like you need the muscles to perform a physical task, you need the brain to tell yourself to keep going."

Distance runner, triathlete and head coach of Fast Forward Sports Scott Fliegelman has a motto that helps you shut off those negative voices: "When you're pre-recorded for success, just press play." When you've trained your body and your mind for a race, you've pre-recorded everything you will need to succeed on race day. "In my three months up to the race, I record the necessary music I need for race day and it lessens the anxiety because I don't have to do anything magical or miraculous on the day." That "music" can include positive self-talk, a well-defined goal and visualization.

Think positively

The first thing Coach McGee does with his athletes is address the negative voice. McGee has his runners take note of their thoughts during training to gauge their preparedness for a hard, speedy workout. Then he has them reflect on their thoughts just before a race. "If there's a distinct disparity there, then we need to recognize that the way they're thinking of races is disempowering and we need to replace those thoughts with something positive." In other words, you gotta fake it 'til you make it. And believe it or not, it works.

Accepting discomfort and boredom during endurance runs are key elements ultrarunner Peter Bakwin needs to finish a race. Pain and boredom, he says, "are usually accompanied by doubt. I doubt I can finish the run, much less perform well in the race." Once he converts the negative self-talk into performance affirmations, the run and the race take on a new meaning. Acknowledge that the run may be uncomfortable, but tell yourself you'll get through it anyway.

Onines says she often runs with a bad devil on one shoulder and a good angel on the other. "When I'm out there running and feeling miserable and the bad devil is saying, 'you can't do this,' the good angel is saying, 'you trained for this.' That's when I tell my body it will be over soon. It's a mental game that I play."

Set simple goals

It's important to have more than one goal. "Most of us are racing the clock," Fliegelman says, "and I think it's dangerous to make adjustments to our pacing on the fly." Endurance sports deplete blood sugar, which affects the brain's ability to reason and stay focused. "As the race goes on, we get dumber and dumber, so we need to have pre-scripted goals to rely on." For example, select one goal to focus on for perfect race-day conditions. Select another goal dependent on weather and other things you can't control. Perhaps you were up all night with your daughter who was sick with the flu, or you woke up with a headache. Having multiple race goals to compensate for uncontrollable events allows runners to have a positive outcome on race day. That way, race day isn't about all or nothing.

On the other hand, there are times when the body cannot perform, no matter what the brain is saying. Dehydration, lack of fuel, and injury are all serious elements of endurance sports, and athletes need to listen to their bodies. "In the ultra world, DNF (did not finish) also stands for 'Did Nothing Foolish,'" Jacaway says.

Get in the (mental) game

Mental games can be powerful tools for long distance runners. Fliegelman and Jacaway say they focus on the aid stations during distance races. In fact, Scott doesn't even consider the running portion of an Ironman to be a marathon. "If you get off your bike and think 'I have to run a marathon,' you might as well quit. If you think of it as the same run as the New York or Chicago or Boston Marathon, you couldn't do it because you're in so much agony. So I don't even use the word 'marathon.' Instead, I consider it to be 26 consecutive repeats from aid station to aid station."

Jacaway says he approaches ultraruns in the same way. "When I start the race, I don't keep the 100-mile finish in sight. I just concentrate getting to that aid station. If you make your goal somewhat shorter, it doesn't seem as daunting." And then, almost magically, he says, you find yourself with just one aid station to go before the finish line.

Go the distance

Of course, the number one item needed to go the distance, no matter what that distance is, is desire: you have to want it and you have to agree to challenge yourself and accept the commitment, even on difficult days.

"I've always felt like my secret weapon is my love of the sport," Ehret says. "I also remind myself that the process is more important than the outcome, that racing is something I choose to and love to do."

"If you think about it," Jacaway says, "a lot of our most character building times in our lives are when we went through fire; it's a test of character. And when you get through it, you will be rewarded for it." It's like the old adage: those things that are hardest won are often what we cherish most.