tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115955661375211752.post6525638960039858400..comments2024-03-28T07:20:07.550+00:00Comments on UltraStu - Millsy's Memories and Mutterings about Trail Running: Developing Positive Self Expectations - Part 1UltraStuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16637489358497153536noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115955661375211752.post-62196493171288954532010-11-11T22:17:01.408+00:002010-11-11T22:17:01.408+00:00Hi Chris
Thanks for the comment. It is pleasing ...Hi Chris<br /><br />Thanks for the comment. It is pleasing to find that other runners have also discovered that running performance isn't just physically determined. I haven't read much of Tim Noakes's stuff, but having seen him present at scientic conferences he comes across as a pretty clever chap who often 'thinks outside of the box'.<br /><br />I went to your blog and read your comment and the quote from Noakes which I will paste below.<br /><br />Noakes writes about fatigue in terms of a Central Governor in his book Lore Of Running. He writes on page 19 (fourth edition)<br /><br />"... the increasing feeling of fatigue and the progressive reduction in the capacity of the exercising muscles to maintain a constant work output during prolonged exercise results from currently unrecognized processes in the brain, which presumably act to prevent bodily harm during such exercise. This model theorizes that performance during exercise is determined by two separate phenomena:<br /><br />A pacing strategy that is preprogrammed into the athlete's subconscious brain as a result of previous training and racing experiences.<br />Acute alterations to that preprogrammed strategy resulting from sensory input from a variety of organs - heart, muscle, brain, blood and lungs, among others - to the exercise controller or governor in the brain. Output from the controller to the motor cortex then determines the mass of skeletal muscle that can be activated and for how long, thereby determining the pacing strategy that the subconscious brain adopts during exercise.<br /><br />"At the same time, information is sent from the controller to the emotional and other centers in the brain. These influence the level of discomfort that is felt, the emotional response, and the self-talk and self-doubt that are additional but poorly understood features of the fatigue that develops during exercise."<br /><br />I think I definitely need to read up on the Central Governor Theory as it seems to be in agreement with my ideas, in that performance in endurance performance is largely determined by self expectations. It are these self expectations <br /><br />that help set the "pacing strategy that is preprogrammed into the athlete's subconscious brain". And especially the last comment by Noakes; "and self-doubt that are additional but poorly understood features of the fatigue", Exactly low self expectations contribute to fatigue! <br /><br />Time to do some more reading, and then wrtie up parts 2 and 3 of this extensive Self Expectation topic!<br /><br />All the best with your plans for next season. It looks like you can't quite make up your mind on what races to run. Quite a few ORs in your list!<br /><br />StuartUltraStuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16637489358497153536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115955661375211752.post-72000665033975556022010-11-11T13:19:50.529+00:002010-11-11T13:19:50.529+00:00Hi Stu
Thanks for the good read. About fatigue ....Hi Stu<br /><br />Thanks for the good read. About fatigue ... <br /><br />I realise that nothing has been scientifically proven yet but I rather like the central governor theory put forward by Tim Noakes in Lore Of Running. I would include it here but it would make this comment too long so I'll provide a link to a post on my blog where it can be read:<br /><br />http://thoughtsofanultrarunner.blogspot.com/2009/04/science-lesson.html<br /><br />Having completed eight 24 hour races (and a number of other ultras) since March 2006 I know that the mental aspect is more important than the physical. My experience is that I have no problem completing a race of almost any length if the aim is just to finish, the problem lies with trying to run that race as quickly as possible. For a 24 hr race this presents further problems in that the absolute minimum distance I would be satisfied with is 225k (140 miles) which is about 6:24 per km (10:17 per mile).<br /><br />That's a slow racing pace but to maintain it for a whole day takes an awful lot of mental strength.<br /><br />In races of this length small negative things turn into major issues which seem to magnify things and make any muscular fatigue seem ten times worse that it would do in a much shorter race. For example, if something happens at mile 20 of a marathon [extremely bad weather, missed drinks station, fall to the ground, etc] the last 6 miles may be uncomfortable but it isn't a major issue. If the same thing happens at 20 miles into a 24 hr race it can quickly become serious as there is, in my case anyway, 21 hours still to go and the mind will start to play tricks and try to get me to stop to escape the weather or find a drink or get the cuts and bruises looked at.<br /><br />In return I try to 'manually override' these thought patterns by reminding myself that 6:24 per km is very slow and all I have to do to ride it out is concentrate on my own pace and avoid everyone else. Until about hour 20 ... then the racing can begin.<br /><br />To avoid these situations arising I try to formulate coping strategies, in the months before a race, so that should anything untoward occur I know exactly how to deal with it.<br /><br />In many ways that is what let me down in this year's 24 hr World Championship in Brive, France. The expected weather for mid May in Brive is 23 C during the day (13 C at night) with quite a lot of sunshine. What actually happened was that we got 13 C during the day (very cold at night) with lots of cloud and mist/fog and a bit of drizzle. In fact I kept my gloves on for the entire race. I managed well until about 16 hours then I just got fed up with the lousy weather. My sub conscious kept telling me that all my 'heat training' had been a waste of time and I would have been better doing some other training instead ... not a good situation. Still managed 222 km (138 miles) which, with hindsight, I'm pleased with as I kept battling those demons right to the very end.<br /><br />ChrisChris Carverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12981666701817524753noreply@blogger.com