View From The Edge | Endurance sports require mental strength, but they are physical too, so do not use ‘it’s all in the mind’ as an excuse not to train

“It’s all in the mind,” is something you hear a lot when talking about endurance sports, be it ultra running, ocean rowing, mountaineering or whatever your poison. But that’s not true. Unless your endurance sport is multi-day chess, it is a physical sport as much as a mental one.

You will need mental strength for your inevitable lows, and you need to dig deep and push when all you want to do is stop. But you are physically moving through space. You cannot think your way over a finish line.

So, do not use bucketloads of mental strength as an excuse not to train. I’ve been in teams when others scoffed at my commitment to getting fitter, smug in their knowledge that “it’s all in the mind” and they’ll prove it come the challenge. Only, they didn’t. In some events, I have also been guilty of relying on former experiences, and not delivering when crunch time comes as I’ve not trained as much as I should have. Likewise, I’ve embarked on challenges with incredible physical specimens who have broken down when the going gets tough.

Mind and body are interlinked. You will struggle to complete your goals without both in shape. Just because you can run a certain distance in a certain time, it does not mean you will unless your mind is prepared to push your body. But if you physically cannot run that pace, well, good luck maintaining your splits with your mindset instead of your legs and lungs.

What’s more, physical training is mental training. Once you get fitter and achieve a new target your mind adjusts to the new normal, so even if you are relying on mental strength it is still not a reason to forgo training.