Challenge Roth and Berlin Marathon finisher Cheryl Tay shares her tips on how to handle the mental aspect of endurance racing
The glowing golden hour sun illuminated the runners’ backs as they dug deep to find their final ounces of energy to cross the finish line at Challenge Roth.
Among the finishers was Cheryl Tay. As she took the last steps of her race, teeth gritted and arms raised, tears formed in her eyes from relief and joy — a cathartic release of emotions.
Just less than 13 hours earlier at the start of the race, Cheryl found herself crying as well from the overwhelming gratitude and tide of emotions at simply being able to start a race that was five years in the making for her.
In fact, Cheryl cried another four times across the entirety of the race — while swimming, cycling, running and as spectators cheered her on along the way.
“I felt a flurry of different types of emotions through the race. And you feel everything — frustration, boredom, exhaustion, fatigue, anxiety, relief, joy. It's really non-stop processing of emotions for an extended period of time,” Cheryl recounted.
Having taken part in the Berlin Marathon as well as several IRONMAN races previously, Cheryl is no stranger to the pain of endurance racing.
Though conventional wisdom says running is 90 per cent mental, from her numerous experiences, Cheryl believes the number is still high, but closer to 80 per cent.
“You definitely need to put in the physical work and attain a certain level of fitness, but throughout the course of the race, all your demons will come out,” Cheryl said.
Some of the “demons” she recalls having during her race at Roth include thinking: Why did I sign up for this? This is so painful; I don't want to do this anymore. My life sucks. I'm never doing this again. I want to go home.
While these thoughts can feel crippling, proper mental preparation prior to racing can help mitigate their effects, said Cheryl who emphasised that whatever the body is conditioned to do in training becomes a habit that will automatically activate during the race — including bad habits.
An example of bad habits is being lenient during training sessions — shortening sets or giving up due to a lack of commitment.
“Therefore, one way to train the mind is to be consistent in your training and remember that whatever habits you create in training will show in your race,” Cheryl said.
Yet, while Cheryl believes it is important to be strict and disciplined in training for races, her mental approach during races themselves differs slightly.
“Be patient, pace yourself properly and don't worry about the timing, just throw the race plan out the window when things go wrong, and focus on what you can do,” Cheryl said as she recalled her race in Berlin which took a downward turn halfway through.
With regards to signing up for races, Cheryl maintains a similarly realistic mindset, saying, “We all have various commitments in life, balancing different responsibilities, and it can get very challenging to squeeze training into your schedules. I will say don't stress yourself and do what you are able to.”
In terms of advice for fellow amateur runners, she believes in making positive self-talk a habit in training and everyday life so it flows more naturally in the most painful moments while racing.
She also encouraged others to dig deep and find their strongest reasons for participating in races.
“Before you go into a race, find the strongest ‘why’ you have. Because you will definitely question yourself hard during the race. That's when you need to convince yourself why you put yourself through this willingly,” she said with a knowing chuckle.