Before your next race, watch this!

Hello everyone, it's Floris Gierman from Extramileist, and today we're going to talk about the tough spot that you might hit in a race. Usually when you start out, you feel fresh, you feel energized, your legs are tapered, and you're really motivated to run. At some point in your race, often 60 to 80% into it, you might start hitting that tough spot. And there are a few things that are happening in your body. You're getting more lactate buildup in your muscles, and your muscles are getting tired. Your energy levels might be going down and you might start feeling some aches all over your body or in specific parts like your legs. Often when this happens, a voice in your head starts this negative dialogue that confirms some of these feelings. I'm feeling horrible, I'm so tired, I can't do this, why am I even doing this in the first place? First of all, realize that you're not alone. Over the past 12 years, I've run more than 30 marathons and ultra marathons of 50 and 100 miles., and I've experienced this many different times. A few different examples from my case: my GPS watch broke at the beginning of a race, someone once tapped me from behind and I ended up falling in the middle of a race. During the Boston Marathon a few years ago, there was a 20 to 30 miles an hour headwind and full-on rain almost the entire part of the race. I've taken the wrong turn at a 50-mile race and I ended up having to run 2 miles extra. One other thing, at mile 18, I started getting incredible cramping during a marathon with still 8 miles to go. These are some of the things that can happen to you during a race as well. So let's take a step back and see what you can actually do when you hit a tough spot in a race. Before you start any race, whether it's a half marathon, a marathon, an ultramarathon, or even a triathlon or Ironman, Know in advance that it's going to be hard. When you know that it's going to be a challenge coming up and that there might be short periods of time that it's going to be very uncomfortable, you're not going to be surprised when it actually does happen in a race. Most probably your race is not going according to plan. Stay calm, this is a temporary setback. Take a deep breath, you can totally handle this. You're going to have to improvise and fix the problem at hand. For example, if you're low on energy, find some sugars or find a drink with some caffeine in there or an energy gel with some caffeine in there. If there's a lot of headwind, find a few other runners who run the same pace and run together as a group. This alone, when you take turns every few minutes, can save you a lot of energy right there. If you feel like you're going to cramp, slow down your pace just a little bit and then at the next aid station, drink some extra water and If you have a salt or an electrolyte pill, actually bite straight into one. You might be surprised how quickly you can change things around. Look at all of the different things, what is within your control to change things around. Don't dwell on any of the things that have happened to you, like the 3 minutes you used for the bathroom or the wrong turn that you actually took. Don't use any negative energy on things that you cannot control or that you cannot change. So actually use the energy to look forward forward. Know that things will get better, that this is a temporary tough spot that you just have to get through. Our bodies and minds are well designed to actually protect us. We have all sorts of mechanisms in place. Often, I think at about 30 to 40% of total discomfort level, your body is starting to give signals, and there's a way to push through this discomfort. I don't believe in a no pain, no gain training mentality, But I do think in order to perform your very best race, there's going to be ways for you to push through this discomfort because you know it's only going to be temporary. Find a mantra or a positive self-talk to get you through these tough spots and repeat it over and over again. Something that works for me is when I tell myself, come on, man, you got this, you're doing good, keep going. Or something along the lines of, you trained so hard for this, now it's time to execute. Whatever works for you to keep your mind in a positive place. Break your race up into very small sections. So instead of saying like, I got 10 more miles to go, say I got 10 times 1 more mile to run. Or even break it up in smaller sections. Run from here to the next light pole or run from aid station to aid station. Whatever you can do to make it from a big goal all the way down to a smaller goal and do it over and over again. My friend Kelly Puckett recently brought up a good one on one of our sub-3-hour marathon podcasts and she said, Whenever you're struggling in a marathon, pick up your pace instead of slowing down. Actually, your body wants a pace of change, so actually pick up the pace. Obviously, this is easier said than done, but I really like the concept of it. Realize that you're not alone. All of the different athletes that you're going to see around you are going to go through a tough spot as well. And when you're actually aware of your surroundings and you actually support and encourage some of the other athletes that are struggling, this could positively help you as well. So try to smile, try to laugh, slap a high five to a spectator and thank the different volunteers. All of this positive energy will come directly back at you and feed you to keep going. During the tough spot in a race, there is going to be two voices in your head. One that says, you can absolutely not do this. And there's gonna be one, yes, you can actually make it happen and do this. The voice that's going to win is the one that you decide to listen to. I want to end this with a 1-minute video clip, and this is when I hit a very tough spot during a self-supported 100-mile run from Long Beach to San Diego. And this was 63 miles in, so I still had about 37 miles, so 60 kilometers to go. This was one of the lowest parts that I've ever gotten in running, and this shows you how I'm actually getting through this tough spot.

I underestimated this. I truly did. This is The hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It seriously feels like I just ran up 10,000 stairs or something. Mile 62.6. I'm at the lowest I've ever been in running. I'm so out of—

I'm out of water.

I'm out of energy. It's hot. There's not much I can change about that right now other than my attitude. There's supposedly a store here somewhere that I still haven't found yet that has some water. Do you know if there's a store somewhere? No, she doesn't know either. Kind of feel delirious. Been running for 9 and a half hours. Things will get better, but yeah, I'm just super tired.

I'm such a happy person right now.

Like 2 minutes after I said that, I found a store, so I'm gonna fuel up right now, feel a lot better, and then we'll go again. 5 minutes after my Coke and I'm running again. That was all I needed. Unbelievable. I seriously just— I think I just got a glucose deficit, low on sugar. So I drank a Coke and as if a curtain just removed, I have energy again. My legs are feeling 10 times better.

I'm I can run again. So once again, you can see that keeping a calm mind, fixing the different problems at hand, and keeping an overall positive vibe can help you overcome these different tough spots. I'll make sure to add a link to the full length of this video as well in the description. If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up and make sure to subscribe. Many more videos coming up soon. Thank you for watching.