Mental Health and Sport:
The Importance of the Psychological Aspect before and during a Race
With 25 years of experience, Rodrigo Cauas is one of the most recognized professionals in sports psychology. He is the author of the book “Train your mind for the marathon,” and has worked with multiple disciplines throughout clubs, federations and academies: soccer, triathlon, tennis, gymnastics, shooting, running and many others. He also served as a rapporteur on the Olympic Committee and as a professor at the following universities: Andrés Bello, Mayor, Universidad de las Américas and Universidad de Santiago. Today, he is a doctoral student in Physical Activity Sciences at the University of León in Spain.
Rodrigo Cauas is also a runner: “Running has a lot of benefits,” he points out. Now, in the months leading up to the eleventh edition of Patagonian International Marathon, the sports psychologist provides us with important tips to remember during the process:
Rodrigo Cauas
(Photo: Rodrigo Cauas’s Instagram)
The psychological benefits from running
“With regards to traditional benefits, which include reducing symptoms of anxiety or reducing the possibility of developing depression, it’s also known today that when you run or when you perform an aerobic activity, the protein BDNF is released, which increases synaptic speed and, therefore, all cognitive processes are improved. That regenerates neurons that are turned off, which is very positive. In other words, in people over 40 or 50 years of age, it delays the onset of Alzheimer’s because it maintains the size of the hippocampus, which encompasses all memory processes. We can also add other psychological aspects: people learn to face challenges, set goals and objectives, work around an action plan and better tolerate and confront frustration. Running helps a lot because the objectives can be very diverse: run harder, run further, or run faster during certain sections.”
It’s known today that when you run or when you perform an aerobic activity, the protein BDNF is released, which increases synaptic speed and, therefore, all cognitive processes are improved.
When and how should you begin training your mind for a marathon?
“It’s very important to be clear about the objectives, as uncertainty generates a lot of anxiety. The first thing to do is determine what I’m going to do, what I’m looking for and how I’m going to do it. In other words, you must make your goal clear and decide what is the ultimate achivement, the objectives that will lead me there, and the action plan. By doing this, I give my brain certainty and a sense of planning, which means there is a smaller chance of developing stress.”
It’s very important to be clear about the objectives, as uncertainty generates a lot of anxiety.
A key strategy: the quality of thoughts
“Today, we know that the mind affects us physically and functionally. This implies that when I’m thinking negatively, my brain has one shape, and while I’m thinking positively, it has another. We have to work on the quality, quantity and frequency of our thoughts while running, and for this reason, it’s important to establish thought patterns, images and situations that you can incorporate during the race, as 80% of the race is spent talking internally to onself. There’s a negative tendency in our brain, which all of us possess, to focus on deficits, fear, problems and pessimism. The brain can be our main self-boycotter and it’s important to look at the positive things to balance out the bad. In fact, for every negative element in our brain, we need two positive ones to balance it out. It’s important to work on that specific variable.”
When I’m thinking negatively, my brain has one shape, and while I’m thinking positively, it has another. We have to work on the quality, quantity and frequency of our thoughts while running.
Tips to help avoid negative thoughts
“There’s this idea that for 90% of the day, we think, do and say the same things. The brain tends to repeat patterns due to automatism, so I recommend preparing the brain to have positive and direct thoughts that have to do directly with what is going on at the time. That must be trained, as you have to change the patterns during the race.”
The brain tends to repeat patterns due to automatism, so I recommend preparing the brain to have positive and direct thoughts.
Can anxiety affect performance?
“Anxiety is intrinsic to any element of competition. It’s impossible to eliminate anxiety or reduce it to zero, meaning we can talk about regulating, leveling or managing it, but not about controlling it. I like to say that, since anxiety is always going to be present, you have to make peace with it. Anxiety even mobilizes us: it allows us to know what things we should do and allows us to plan. It’s an energy that must be channeled correctly, because if it exceeds the limit, it can obviously paralyze us as well. There are various symptoms: they sometimes manifest themselves physiologically, other times in a more motor-like form and at times in a cognitive way. This means that they lose the ability to make decisions. The tool that I would use to deal with my anxiety depends on how it is manifisted.”
It’s impossible to eliminate anxiety or reduce it to zero, meaning we can talk about regulating, leveling or managing it, but not about controlling it.
One of the most important tools
“According to neuroscience research, breathing is very helpful. With proper exercises, anxiety can be managed appropriately, and you can also clean the brain and prevent it from being tainted. When we think about many things, the brain generates a lot of toxins and that needs to be cleaned. It’s important that you work on your body and there is a technique called progressive relaxation, which has to do with muscle contraction and relaxation, and this can be done on the nights before competitions. This helps relax the body and release tension.”
With proper exercises, anxiety can be managed appropriately, and you can also clean the brain and prevent it from being tainted.
What should I do the night before a race?
“It would be very helpful to visualize that you are already in the race, such as trying out some strategies and connecting with those sensations that you can experience during the race. Make it as real as possible. It really helps to put images, smells and sounds of the things that we’re going to experience the following day in our heads, as it allows the brain to be better prepared. The night before, you have to train those circumstances, together with the progressive relaxtion technique.”
It really helps to put images, smells and sounds of the things that we’re going to experience the following day in our heads, as it allows the brain to be better prepared.
The mental aspect of a race is worked on long before the competition
“It’s important to naturalize the fact that it’s normal to feel more difficulties than benefits during a race. You have to get the brain used to that idea, as the brain is very hedonistic, it’s constantly trying to avoid pain and increase pleasure. Therefore, when we face a long-distance race, the brain tries to reject us and self-boycott us, because it interprets what it’s experiencing as something unpleasant, which the brain consequently doesn’t like and rejects. It’s important to work on your headspace and you must do that beforehand, which is why runners rely on a sports psychologist to help prepare them.”
It’s important to naturalize the fact that it’s normal to feel more difficulties than benefits during a race.