The 30 day challenge - Day 5 - Tim Noakes

I think this post carries on what I've been writing from my review of the Bristol half marathon and my analysis of Simon Freeman's account of the same race. Early today I had the time to listen to Martin Yelling's Marathon talk podcast, where I sought out the 2 episodes with Professor Tim Noakes. I listened to the second episode first, which was informative and talked a lot about diet and the role of carbohydrates that Noakes is exploring in relation to endurance events. The first episode (number 47 in the series) that I then listened to was where Noakes discussed the Central Governer theory, which he is most associated with.

First of all, I'm glad I made the time to properly listen to Marathon Talk. I've been recommended by lots of other fellow runners to listen in, have followed them on Twitter, but till now not really followed their episodes properly. My mistake! One listen and I was hooked, and also inspired! How a running nerd lik e me, who chastises others for not making time to go running, can have not found the time to listen to Martin and Tom is beyond me! Secondly, hearing Noakes expand on his thoughts and research was great.

To those who don't know, the Central Governer theory is a "model of exercise in which the brain is the primary organ that dictates how fast, how long, and how hard humans can exercise." Further: "the (Governer) process in the brain... regulates exercise in regard to a neurally calculated safe exertion by the body. In particular, physical activity is controlled so that its intensity cannot threaten the body’s homeostasis by causing anoxia damage to the heart." In the first episode, Noakes clearly explains how (mostly) runners don't just drop dead at the finish of an endurance race after hours of exertion. The Governer can be imagined as a safety mechanism that the well trained runners/athletes can push to its limit to perform ever more quicker and personal best times.

Whilst I certainly wouldn't advocate pushing yourself to the point of exertion, I've been exposed to this theory previously, and Noakes' life in research has shown that running success isn't purely physiological and down to hours of endless training. At this point, I could understand what Simon was saying in his post about sheer bloody mindedness in determining running success, compared to strict adherence to a complex training plan.

Anecdotally, I know that I take comfort in my running from following a schedule closely. I'm definitely a runner who tends to perform better when I've put the hours in. At this point I feel challenged to answer, is this due to the fact I'm in better condition? (and thus perform better because I'm in the best physical shape); or is it because my self-efficacy (see yesterday's post to understand this concept) is enhanced due to doing all my training like a good boy? Would I have got the same time in one of my better races if I just believed in my abilities to the same degree?

The role of coping is essential to help address this. When you are on your game, you keep your pace up because you feel good, stimulated and know you can keep going. When the pain bites in such a race or run, you can bat it off. Obviously if you are out of shape, or haven't trained at all, it would be very hard to sustain the required levels of energy and stamina to succeed, but I am now piqued to investigate further.

I've not done full justice to Noakes findings or theories in this post, but if you want to know more, I advise listening to the two podcasts and I promise I will go into more detail in later posts. If you have any specific questions, please ask away or post in the comments section. Either way, I felt suitably inspired for my next upcoming runs! 

The 30 day challenge - Day 4. Psychological breakdown

No, don't worry! I'm not losing my mind or going crackers! I've called today's post 'Psychological breakdown' so I can frame some of the concepts used in Sport Psychology so they can be applied to real life, by reviewing some of the things discussed by me on Tuesday, and Simon Freeman yesterday. By sharing what research in the field has shown will hopefully inform you in your training, or investigate these further.

First of all I'll write a bit on anxiety. Simon wrote: "I started to wonder how I had come 62^nd out of 17,000 runners in a race that I was concerned I wouldn’t even finish" Before a race we all experience a rise in the symptoms of anxiety. This may be the butterflies in the tummy, or angst in your mind about whether you'll mentally 'turn up on race day' or maybe how you'll cope with the expectation you have set yourself for your performance. Research has consistently found that the best athletes embrace these cognitive and physical symptoms and turn them into a positive to psych themselves up (or down) for upcoming performance. I find this area of Sport Psychology fascinating, and really goes to show the power of a positive mindset. Some athletes already have the natural mental strength or fortitude that they know that a rise in pre-event anxiety is inevitable and naturally deal with it. Others need to work with their coach or a Sport Psychologist to restructure their thoughts to be more positive to have a performance best. Obviously, I'd advise in the first instance as a practitioner and coach that to be in the right mindset, you need to give yourself the best chance possible. If you're a runner, this means in the week before a race, get lots of rest. Make sure you've slept soundly in the couple of nights prior to the night before a race. On the actual night before an event you may not sleep well due to the expectation of the race has caused. You know that we all think better and more clearly if you're rested properly. If you're doing an endurance event, your mind needs to be as fresh as possible as the challenge will use up a lot of mental energy. I believe that eschewing drink during the last week is beneficial, as research shows that alcohol disrupts sleep, so you can't properly rest and recharge.

Simon also writes: "I think that to some extent I simply decided that I could cruise along at faster than six minute miles and catch the runner in front" Here, he is showing his 'self-efficacy' (or belief as normal people may call it!), in his abilities. The psychologist most associated with this concept is Albert Bandura, a leader in cognitive social learning theory. Bandura defines people high in self-efficacy as:

"People with high assurance in their capabilities approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided.

To have a high level of self-efficacy, an individual needs to have successfully performed an act previously. Given Simon's previous race record, I'd challenge him that it is not surprising he can churn out a time within 3 minutes of his PB. He's been there before in a similar situation, ran the same race, knows whats upcoming in his mind that he has to face (whether anxiety, coping with pain, having to run faster, that everything will be ok) but fundamentally, that he is capable of putting in a great performance. In addition, I felt I had strong self-efficacy for my performance on Sunday as I had completed 3 months worth of training. I only missed one session and had completed a big plan of intervals, hills, long runs, core and took strength from the fact that I had done everything within my power to prepare properly for the race, which would result in me setting a new PB. That's self-efficacy.

By distracting himself helping out other runners, Simon also shows us a technique called 'disassociation' (I covered this a few years ago in a write up of a talk by Dr Tim Holder here). By taking his focus away from himself, wanting to helping others and avoid any negatives, he was dissociating. Simon didn't write about whether he 'associated', focusing on how his performance was going (whether mental or physical). I tried to associate to the pain I was going through in the latter half of the race, though it didn't help me a great deal with going faster! All it did was tell me my blisters were bloody aching!

Joking aside, I did use a trick of association where I broke down the remainder of my performance mile by mile, trying to stay in the moment, and not think too far ahead by saying 'get through the next mile and make it your best - don't worry about anything more than that.' It's an old running trick that we've all done, but in the heat of a race, easy to forget. And takes a certain mental strength to remember. If I get enough interest I'll write more on association and disassociation, as for runners and endurance cyclists/triathletes, I think its an integral skill to aid performance.

So - there we go. Anxiety, Self-efficacy, Coping strategies.  I'm merely touching on some massive Sport Psychology topics, and not fully giving each of them justice, but I hope you are beginning to understand how they fit together to account for how you can improve your performance in whatever sport you participate in. Please do ask questions and what you want to know more detail on.

The 30 day challenge - Day 3 - Running with will-power

Today I'm giving over control to Simon Freeman to guest blog for me with his report of the Bristol Half Marathon. He came 62nd overall and is one of the most driven individuals I know. He's always been interested in the mental side of training and competition, so I'm pleased to let him contribute to the Focused Mind. Tomorrow I'll write up what my take on 'what should be done' (from a Sport Psych point of view) in preparation for a race and compare it to what he and I have written for the past two days. Hope this helps to any runners of all standards. Over to you Simon...

***

Thanks! Since the London marathon in April this year, the opportunity to set up my own business (Freestak) has meant that I have had to make a choice between running as much as usual and working more than usual. In the interests of long-term happiness, I have opted for working more than usual.

As my training has taken a back-seat, the area I have tended to forego has been speed-work, partly because speed sessions at the track take longer than a quick 6 miles on the roads around where I live and partly because they are the hardest type of training to get motivated for.

In short I have done less training than usual. And a lot less speed work than usual.

So it was with some trepidation that I set off for the Bristol half marathon last weekend. Adding to my concern was the fact that there were a few of my friends and training partners who were suggesting that we could run together. They have been training much harder than me and I was worried I could fall to pieces at the sort of pace they were suggesting.

I will spare you a race report – Stuart has already written that here - but I will talk about a key moment in the race. Around mile five the course was heading back into Bristol along the Portway under the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge. I was running in a little group that had formed with me, two of my training partners and another chap none of us knew. 5min 45sec per mile. Into a headwind. And I felt fantastic.

Despite having missed masses of training and especially almost all the speed work that I should have been doing, I was dragging the three others along, acting as a shield into the wind and feeling great.

After the race – completed in 76:30 – I started to wonder how I had come 62^nd out of 17,000 runners in a race that I was concerned I wouldn’t even finish, let alone within three minutes of my personal best. And I realized that it might be down to my brain: a mixture of confidence and bloody-mindedness.

I cannot pretend to understand this from the point of view of a sport psychologist, but I think that to some extent I simply decided that I could cruise along at faster than six minute miles and catch the runner in front and help to pace one of my friends to a sizeable PB. Once I believed that I could maintain the pace, I simply did.

Do I think that I can run faster than I ever have before with less training? No! Do I recommend that runners throw their training programme in the bin and simply hope they’ll get faster? No! But maybe what I learned in Bristol at the weekend is that even if training has not been consistent or gone to plan, by having the confidence that you can do something and by giving it a go, you might find that you do better than you thought you would. Maybe that is what Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC-43 BC), ancient Roman writer and statesman, meant when he wrote:

“It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment”

Sounds about right to me! 

The 30 day challenge - Day 2 Bristol Half Marathon

For the second year in a row, I ran the Bristol Half Marathon this weekend. I'd entered the previous year on the advice of Phoebe Thomas, my coach at the time from Running with Us. I worked with her and Nick Anderson last year, improving both my running and attitude to training in the process. Having moved back to Manchester from London, I've been training with a different runners at Sport City and Ellesmere Port, taking the lessons learnt from last summer to push on from this year's Marathon in Barcelona.

I've been fine tuning my speed work and shaved a good couple of minutes off my PB for 10K and upped the intensity of my training. It's been a good summer and I can see and feel the progress in my running. It's given my confidence (or self-efficacy as its termed in Sport Psychology) a boost. Having goals based on time and economy to work towards, has had a beneficial effect overall.

Last year I came to Bristol, running the half marathon for the first time and set a PB of 1:39:21, which I was really pleased with. This year I was aiming to get somewhere between 1:30 and 1:35 based on training and races. Having already hit 1:37 during marathon training I knew this was realistic.

On the day I got to the race on time, felt good as I dropped off my luggage and took up position in the first wave of runners. The race was well organised and I felt good and thought the conditions were good. Not too warm, but not too breezy. As the course hits an out and back along the River Avon, headwinds are a concern to runners. It's no fun trying to run into that at pace.

Some complained that on the return leg the wind was up, but to be honest I didn't notice. Nick warned the runners at the start to avoid the schoolboy error of going out too quickly, and I was determined not to overcook it too soon. As the gun went off I hit the first couple of miles at 6:30/6:45 pace, which earlier in the summer I'd comfortably managed in 10k races. Over the past month I've been hitting ever faster times in my interval work, so felt ok at this pace and avoided keeping up with faster runners that passed me. I wasn't dropping back, but felt pretty comfortable. As we got past the out and back heading  towards town for the final half of the race, I began to feel a rubbing on the inner part of my right shoe. My lace had snagged, something I'd noticed as a design fault. I thought I'd got round it in the way I'd laced the shoe and chip, but for the first time wearing them during the month, it began to blister my foot and ended up bruising my ankle too.

My stride got put out and I was finding it harder to maintain the same pace as the first half. I thought I may be able to maintain going as fast as I had in previous races. I saw my splits were beginning to slow, but not to a point I was overly concerned about. I just wanted to maintain the pace I had slowed to (around 7 minute mileing) and see what I had left with 3 miles to go with a view to going quicker.

But to get through those miles, I was really struggling mentally. I kept telling myself, "just get through the next mile and make it the best mile you run." As a trick it worked, but my mind was wandering more than I'd have liked and bringing it back to the present was proving hard as the right foot rubbed ever more painfully. By the final mile I could sense the impending relief of the finish. In my head I heard my girlfriends advice 'Think of Mo Farah working hard in the Olympics,' but I knew I hadn't hit the 1:30 dream time I was after. I knew I'd be near to where I wanted to be for my original goal, given what I was seeing as I glanced at the watch. As was, I crossed the line in a very respectable 1:33:43, saw Nick as soon as I crossed the line, and felt pride in taking off a lot of time.

On the day I was cursing the schoolboy error of not ensuring my trainers weren't set up 100%. Next time I will go easier on myself mentally. I know I can go quick enough and only have to lose 15 seconds per mile. With a full season behind me, this is eminently possible. Speaking to Simon Freeman afterwards, I am confident about the kind of training I need to do on the track to make going at 6:45 pace more comfortable. Whether Bristol is the right race to go for another PB I'm not sure. There's a bugger of a hill to negotiate a few miles from home that I don't like. I'm keen to try something abroad or a different course for that, but I will be back to run this race.

Overall as a course I like it and its a lot of fun testing yourself in familiar surroundings.  And I'll go a bit easier on myself mentally next time too. Just because I help others with their game, doesn't mean that I don't go through the same challenges in competition myself!

The 30 day challenge - Day 1

After a lull for a month or two after the Olympics, I realise that as Summer turns to Autumn, I'm getting my head back into the study for Sport Psychology having finished my Summer job. I'm due to go and take some time out in November, so I've taken inspiration from Matt Cutts, and set myself the small (but achievable) challenge of writing 30 engaging blog posts over a month to make up for the lack of posting recently. Anyone can churn out *something* but I'm going to see if I can hold reader attention and help elucidate more about sport psychology and coaching and hopefully answer some of the questions you may have on the areas me and colleagues research and help athletes with.

I love Matt's TED talk and his motivation through challenging yourself to achieve small things that you've been putting off. When I think of this blog, I love it, but I also feel daunted about what I can add as content. By having to write and engage, I'm forcing myself to address this in a manageable timeframe. As Matt says:

"The next 30 days are going to pass whether you like it or not, so why not think about something you have always wanted to try and give it a shot for the next 30 days?” (Matt Cutts)"

I'm also inspired by blogs from other sources. I'm a big fan of designer Anna Dahlstrom's blog, where she has managed to write an entry every day so far this year. I recommend you check out her post on taking Fikas, which is probably my favourite on there, and a concept I really like. If Anna can manage it for 10 months, surely I can manage 30 days? Yes, that seems easy, but I probably overthink what I should put on my blog, so that I end up skipping days worth of content. I'm taking inspiration from Jerry Seinfeld's rule of productivity. I promise I won't try and write any gags. I'll stick to what I know best.

What can you expect? What will you see?

Well, I want to share what research on psychological skills for performance have shown. I want to outline the role of motivation as it is reported in Psychology; how you as an athlete or coach can stay motivated. I'm fascinated how the top athletes can harness their anxiety symptoms to obtain winning performances; how Individual Zones Of Optimal Functioning can help your performance, and the role of stress and emotion on performance - amongst other things. 

I've got guest blogs from sub 3 hour runner Simon Freeman, other Sport Psychologists in the field here and abroad who will offer their advice and guidance; interviews with coaches and special guests and my take on leading sport stories that will no doubt occur over the next month. 

If you have any questions or subjects you want addressed, or if you want to contribute, then feel free to write. I've got a lot of the topics worked out, but there's still room for more. Fundamentally, I want to articulate how I think Sport Psychology, and the findings that we know to be reliable, can help you or your athlete's sporting life. Contact me at stuartholliday at gmail.com if you have anything you want to communicate or ask.

Thanks.
(I'll also endeavour to try and write my blog posts in the morning rather than with one hour to go to the next day!)

S

Technology and the Olympic games, now and in the future.

So I made my predictions two days ago that Team GB would improve their medal totals and so it has come to pass. Day 6 and the Brits are up to 5th in the medals table. There's been some disappointments (Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish missing out on getting to the final by an illegal overtake in the team sprint), but the medals kept on coming today, and the track and field hasn't even started yet.

What I'm picking up through these games from taking an interest in the home athletes, is the impact of technology on athlete training, measuring performance and how this is translating into Personal Best times and how much harder athletes are having to work to be in the medals. As mentioned, Rebecca Adlington finished 3rd to claim a bronze in her first race, a quicker time than a gold winning performance in China 4 years ago. In the pool, there have been many records broken, as commented on by colleague Rob Robson and 'old timer' Sir Chris Hoy in winning his 5th gold, posted a personal best time in his leg of a World record time.

Amateur runners, riders, triathletes and bikers can tell you that the technology and information to feedback to performance in the form of GPS watches, Heart Rate monitors (HRMs) and apps for phones and computers is as good as the pro's had in recent times. The elite have moved further on still, with instant feedback on technique and performance to even more precise level of detail, as stated in this article about Team GB swimming with help from the Universities at Loughborough and Southampton.

With the increase in funding to Team GB overall and other leading World powers in athletics of all disciplines, this has translated into better performances all round, so the margins for victory through to fourth place have become narrower. Considering improvements in the levels of nutrition, conditioning, what is know about rest etc., being an elite athlete in this day and age has become a full time job to stay on top of the pressures of training to maintain consistently high performance. So crucial is this to athletes, that in some cases they are willing to give over all of their technical data to be able to get their hands on the latest technology.

But this is a reflection of societies enhancements in technology. I watch my TV and despite working for the BBC's Research and Development team,  I sometimes struggle to work out all of the functions you can use to get the most out of the information being provided as an armchair fan! Being privileged to glimpse near future developments and kit, I then also get to see what is around the corner for viewers/consumers, but I do think that as with social media, athlete data will eventually become more readily available for fans to see how their favourite sport stars are on or off the pace. Dual screen technology is already delivering this to us, particularly if you think about some of the offerings to viewers of football and motor racing.

However, with athlete data, as we go beyond just the stop watch, and are able to compare all career previous splits, use HRM data and more sophisticated measuring devices, we will be able to chart athlete progress or decline to a level of detail never previously seen before in real time, simultaneously, as fully as an athletes coach and support team are receiving the same information.

The reality of rapid development for viewers was shown to me this week at a demonstration of Super High Vision, a project between BBC and NHK of Japan. A short edit of the Olympic Opening ceremony and a live broadcast from the Olympic Aquatic Centre, gave a glimpse of how real our feed of the action will be within a few years. Having kept up with technology so far and been impressed by HD, the latest demo showed that it is almost possible to feel 'as if' you are at an event without having to travel miles. So as well as feeling as if you within touching distance of your favourite stars, you will be able to review all of the relevant physiological (and who knows one day, even psychological) data relating to the performance you are watching.

In my own research, I see applicability to how more rich data can be derived from athletes to inform and back up the psychological lived experience. Will it be possible for us as sport scientists to be able to use this battery of information to help account for the emotions experienced, the behaviours exhibited, and in turn, track the effect and impact on better or worse performance? I truly think so, and am working on a proposal for a study to do just that.

Having spent 10 years working in industry as a tech guy, I moved into sport thinking that it was useful experience to have to fall back on. As I look further into the future I think that knowledge of the possibilities of technology to inform approaches to performance and athlete psychological experience are going to be crucial in sport science support and assistance for all practitioners. How we interpret and then work with athletes to get the most from this and support their needs will be the challenge that all of us face.

Olympics 2012 - A view from the ground

So here I am on my way back from 5 days in London, going back home to Manchester having been in the capital for a weekend at the start of the 30th Olympiad, celebrating my running partners 40th birthday and working for the Olympics main media provider.

Last week I went to the first Team GB men's football match at Old Trafford against Senegal. It was a surreal experience, watching a newly formed team play their first competitive match in living memory. It was an odd atmosphere, and didn't feel like an olympic 'event' or a normal football match. Happening before the official start of the games, it felt, well, not quite right.

The next day I went to work at R & D in the BBC North's HQ before heading down to London for the official start and opening ceremony. Riley and I went to an old fashioned East End pub to watch Danny Boyle's spectacular. Normally I hate (nay loathe) opening ceremonies, but the scale and detail in the show did bowl this cynic over. OK, there were points I didn't like, or I thought dragged, or could have been ditched entirely. But with Frank Cotterill-Boyce writing the piece and Underworld's Rick Smith overseeing the music, I really was proud to be British - something as a more liberal leaning individual I don't often say.

What grabbed me most about these Olympics was what I experienced the following day. Not watching Team GB's valiant yet futile efforts in the cycling road race, or the early rowing rounds (one of Team GB's specialities) but just walking and being around Mile End in East London. I've been a temporary resident in the area over the past 20 years. My parents bought a flat nearby in 1996, I've lived in London in the borough of Hackney for 5 years and I've turned out for and coached at my beloved Victoria Park Harriers & Tower Hamlets AC since 2008. It was great seeing athletes wandering round the local neighbourhood, wearing their countries colours and experiencing the diversity the area has to offer. 

Enrique and I ran to our local track, which is the base for the US Olympic team. Expecting high end security to have cordened it all off, we were priveleged and pleasantly surprised to chat through the enclosure to the Olympic 10,000 metre runner Janet Cherobon-Bawcom about her experience at the opening ceremony the night before, her views on being in London at the Olympics and her hopes for the competition this Friday in the 10,000 metres final at the Olympic stadium. Coached by one of my favourite running inspirations and heroes, the brilliant Jack Daniels, it was great to get up close to a visiting medal hope and find out their view on the whole event.

So what that I missed out on track tickets? I chatted to a bonafide Olympian! who was enjoying the hospitality and being in the Olympic village! She was loving being in our country and fully appreciating the whole event.

Having spent the past 4 years of my life training to become a sport psychologist, having given up hours and days to coach and volunteer individuals of all abilities, being in London for this landmark event set my pulse racing. I truly believe 2012 has captured the public imagination. Everywhere I rode my bike round the city, North, West, East and South, I saw volunteers happily helping the public. In every shop, bar, restaurant and at work, all everyone was talking about was how the games were going. The exceptional performers, the nearly men and women, and the constant volume of noise from the shouting and the cheering for all the athletes (not just the British participants).

This being the modern age, the age of social media, with all of us having a broadcast opinion, should we want to air it, there is a huge amount of cyncism about the event - and rightly so. The amount of empty seats vs the amount of people who want to watch events (but how many turned out for the men and womens' road cycling?) is scandalous. The food and drinks on offer to audiences of poor nutritional quality is A JOKE. The branding police, the queues, the cost of tickets, the politicians pressing flesh and gladhanding, the olympic travel lanes, etc, are all things that wind me up as much as the next man. But seeing people, young and old  get excited, involved, engaged and inspired, as someone trying to make a difference to public health, is great. And I won't let the killjoys mute that. 

Thanks to the digital options to see competition, and the British love of sport, its fantastic that this island is getting the most from this games. We've got a terrible joke of a government. The economy is in as worse a state as I can recall and we've had as crap a summer weather wise in living memory.

BUT! Sport and athletics has the capacity to enthuse, create conversation, argument, joy, tears, and most of all, and what I love about this games, is the appreciation for the efforts those men and women have made and are putting in to make this exhibition of excellence. It is our job as coaches, sport psychologists, scientists and support staff, to be part of the 'inspired generation' in the future as much as the next Rebecca Adlington or Bradley Wiggins.

British athletes are scoring personal bests, posting times that are better than they did 4 years ago in Beijing, and still not achieving gold - Yet. Either because UK participation in the discipline is on the up (see gymnastics) or in part because the competition are going even further in their times and scores. It shows that sport doesn't stand still, but also provides humility and perspective. Rebecca Adlington's reaction to winning bronze in the 400m, or the gymnasts reaction to being demoted to bronze after the Japanese appeal shows that "winning at all costs" is not what sport is all about. Sometimes personal improvement and effort are more important than medals and the glow of the winning prestige (this is something we have to work at with athletes as sport psychologists and coaches). That said, I do truly believe that Team GB is not performing 'terribly' so far, the disciplines at which we excel haven't really begun in earnest. If over the next week British endeavour persists at the same levels as displayed so far (maybe with a few less lapses of error) I do believe the medals will come. At a lower level, I hope that recreational exercisers are inspired to run faster, jump higher and perform better. Take pride in your training and performance and the results will follow.

Tomorrow I will post about the breakthroughs in sporting and media technology, the interaction of large data on performance and how I'm aiming to use findings from this media in my work. This Olympics has done one thing for definite. Inspired me to write more! :-)