Inside the Mind of a Marathoner

Discovery news
Emily Sohn 

In the months leading up to this weekend's New York City marathon, most of the event's 47,000 runners have trained their bodies, planned their carbo-loading schedules, and picked out the shoes and moisture-wicking layers that work best for them.

To get across the finish line, though, athletes will also need to have cultivated mental toughness that will help them cope with the pain, fatigue and misery that are sure to strike at various points along the course.

Many long-distance athletes naturally develop strategies for resisting the urge to quit. But the best competitors take extra care to train their brains, focusing on their minds as much as they do on their other muscles.

"The signal to slow down is hardwired, and there's good reason for it when you're running out of energy and the body is burning more fuel than it can give to the brain," said Andy Lane, a sports psychologist at the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom.

The key to success in endurance endeavors, he said, "is learning to ignore that signal and replace it with something else."  More >>