Elizabeth sports psych

Sports psychology basics
Elizabeth Werhane

It turns out that sports psychology was one of my more valuable classes during my days at UCSB. And while what I'm about to report is nothing new for the wise readers of this site, sometimes it's worth having a reminder of the simple ways in which we can trick ourselves into getting better.

It's nearing the end of February, which can seem like a long time past those New Year's resolutions. So for those runners who sometimes have trouble keeping their momentum, here are tips as I remember them from sports psychology and as they've helped me.

Disclaimer: Believe it or not, I shared my sports psychology class with co-SBAA runner Steve Rider. And I can assure you that he was not paying attention. Think how much faster he might be if he'd been listening!

Run in the morning: I'm convinced I run better in the afternoon hours, but I know I'll run more often if I run before work. It's far less likely that something will come up and interfere with your running schedule at 6:30 a.m. than 6:30 p.m. At the end of a workday, you may just want to fall over or you may want to celebrate at happy hour with friends. If your run is already done, your evenings can be flexible.

Have a running buddy: Not only is it fun to have a friend along for a workout, it's effective. Having someone to answer to is amazingly motivational. I'm perfectly willing to flake on myself, but if I know my neighbor will be waiting outside for me, I drag myself out of bed to join her. Running with friends is also very efficient. It allows you to socialize and exercise at the same time.

Set rewards to go with your goals: When my running partner and I started out, we agreed that we should mark our accomplishments. We agreed that after our first 10 runs, we would go to a spa. She earned a massage, and I earned my first facial. (How very Santa Barbara, I know.) Working toward something made us stick to our plan. We've since done at least four times that many runs, but we don't need rewards anymore. Now it's part of our routine. Missing runs, not doing them, feels like the punishment.

Cross train: Mixing it up helps prevent muscular and mental fatigue. My running partner introduced me to spinning and is still threatening to take me to a kick-boxing class. Another friend and I lift weights. There's yoga, swimming, hiking and, of course, ping pong.

Add variety to your runs: Find new routes. Run them in reverse. Do hills. Hit the beach. Do speed work. My running partner and I are neighbors, so we start all of our pre-work runs from the same spot, but we have at least four different directions we can head out, each with a couple of variations. If we're going for a longer weekend run, we'll sometimes drive somewhere new to take in different scenery. Not only does this limit the boredom factor, it keeps you more alert. It's easy to slip into autopilot mode if you're covering a well-worn loop. I'm surprised by how many creatures of routine we see on our runs. There are some people who we can count on seeing when we run through Shoreline Park and some people who we can't prove exist outside of the Douglas Preserve. And while it's almost comforting to know they'll be there, we like to be less predictable.

Think positive thoughts. This one wasn't in the textbook. But it was the wisdom of Robert Loney, a longtime cross country and track coach at Upland High School who coached two of my running heroes: Steve Scott and my brother. I had the privilege of training with him and the men's team one season, and he trained our heads as much as our bodies. He gave us lists of happy thoughts--full pages--and encouraged us to come up with our own. Before races, we planned out the types of thoughts that would keep us going, and those thoughts were at the ready when we started to feel tired or disheartened.
Feel free to e-mail me for some positive thinking ideas and some of the visualization tricks I've since come up with.

I am still, as I was when I wrote in November, a mediocre runner. But I am, as I promised to be, a more social and committed runner. I ran the Turkey Trot at UCSB, the Thanksgiving 4-miler, the Rotary 10K and the Roses to La Playa 10K, and I volunteered at Nine Trails. Between the two 10Ks I ran in the past couple of months, I dropped more than three minutes off my time, so I'm convinced that something I've been doing is working.

More importantly, I've made new running friends. I don't have to go to races alone. And even if I did, I'd probably know people when I showed up. Thanks to all of you. You rock.