Psychological Demands faced by Recreational Endurance Athletes

I recently read a fascinating piece of research examining the psychological demands experienced by recreational endurance athletes (McCormick, Meijen & Marcora, 2016). Whilst a lot of focus tends to be placed on elite athletes when talking about the psychological side of performance, specific focus on recreational athletes is not always so prominent. Anything which places a demand or stress on any athlete has the potential to affect their performance, depending on how they respond to it. Ineffective coping strategies may lead to unhelpful emotional responses and negatively impact how an athlete performs. With this in mind, being aware of potential demands is crucial to ensure helpful coping strategies are developed and practiced. Below I have summarised some of the main areas identified by the research, along with a few ideas to improve coping.

Time investment and Lifestyle sacrifice

Competitive recreational athletes are often juggling their sport alongside both full-time work and family life. Understandably, this can be extremely difficult to manage.

That’s me! What can I do?

Ensuring that your desired training plan and preferred time commitment is discussed and agreed with your family in advance can help relieve a pressure and mean you gain their support. Working out how much time you can realistically dedicate to your training each week alongside your other commitments, and then working out how to make best use of that time is a great starting point.

Commitment to Training Sessions

Unlike professional athletes, recreational athletes may not have a coach to keep their training schedule on track. Completing training sessions may be entirely down to their own commitment and planning. The research highlighted that athletes found this particularly challenging in bad weather and when they had no particular event coming up.

That’s me! What can I do?

Motivation can be a struggle for exercisers and athletes at all levels, and recognising that this in itself is ‘normal’ can help relieve some internal anguish. Planning out your training sessions in advance and committing to them in your diary (just as you would any other meeting) can help ensure you stick to them. Thinking about how each session contributes to your broader goals and values will keep them meaningful. Finally, scheduling your training sessions with other people will make you far less likely to drop out, especially if it is raining outside!

Sensations during exercise

Successful endurance athletes will need to push themselves, both in training and events, inevitably leading to some level of discomfort (assuming here of course, that the discomfort is not due to injury). The ability to continue training, push on, and not give up despite this, can pose a real challenge.

That’s me! What can I do?

Self-talk is a key mental skill that can be used here. It is possible that when things get tough, doubtful or negative self-talk may begin to creep in. If you recognise this, you can develop positive counter statements in advance. Spend some time thinking about how you feel in those tough moments, and what you would like to hear to keep you going. For example, “you’ve got this”, “keep pushing”. I have also had clients use phrases or words of encouragement that their children or family members have said to them. Whatever you choose, have one or two prepared and ready to use when you find you need them.

Stressors surrounding events (prior to the event itself)

Perhaps not a demand that may be thought of immediately, but concerns arising in advance of an event, in relation to the event itself, may act as a stressor. There could be logistical stress regarding how to get to the venue, where to park etc, as well as general worry about something going wrong.

That’s me! What can I do?

Find out as much information about the event and venue as possible in advance, perhaps doing a ‘drive by’ or if that isn’t practical, google street view search. You want to help yourself feel as prepared as possible on event day, so that your energy can be put in to the race itself. It is a great idea to write out everything you will need to do on the morning of the event, along with timings and allowing a little contingency for anything unexpected. This will help you feel more confident.

Making judgements in race

Competitive recreational endurance athletes will need to make in-race decisions, potentially based on other competitors, and judge their pacing. They will also need to have a mindset that will allow them to remain focused despite adversity.

That’s me! What can I do?

Effective ‘what if’ scenario planning may help here. This basically means thinking through potential scenarios you may find yourself in ahead of time (‘what if X’), and then also thinking about how you will deal with them. When a situation arises on race day you will have (hopefully!) already thought through your course of action and can simply take this, as opposed to having to make substantial further analysis.