I’m wondering if anyone has little mental games they use to help them keep going on long events. Personally I found simply counting down the miles or hours a dull and far from motivational.

I tend to find I use fractions to get me through. I do this at the beginning and the end. So starts with 1/5 done, then a 1/4 then 1/3 , half way there is an obvious milestone, and then it goes the other way round so 1/3, then 1/4 then 1/5 of the way to go. Also very easy to visualise 1/3 of the way means 2/3 of that effort to go.

Anyway that’s my mental trick … you got any?

I used to practice morse code in my head saying things I’d seen not out loud tho that would be mad lol

Talk to lots of people. Talk nonsense, see if you get a reply. Chat up blokes/women. Scream out loud on the technical bits. Always talk to the marshals. Thats what helps me.

I thought this was going to be s mental trickz dude! Rad! Type thread. Should’ve known better

Sorry slowrider 🙂 I thought it might cause confusion!

hels – that’s a good tip. chatting anyway … I’m married so no chatting up.

A bit of mental arithmetic. Avg spd to current point (not using the cycle computer). Then calculate distance to do, work out how long it will take in minutes. Convert minutes to hours + minutes. Add to current time. See if that is acceptable – if so, relax, if not, put some effort in.

Repeat every mile or two.

focus on one lap at a time – don’t think of the overall race, just focus on each lap. pick a few points around the loop to focus on getting to, then start over fresh on the next lap. don’t conciously count laps – just keep plugging away at what you can do.

i watch whats going on in the world and enjoy the views when there are any, if not i just look at what is going on! its what life and Mtbing is all about (if you ask me) 🙂

I thought this was going to be s mental trickz dude! Rad! Type thread.

Me too! It’s coz we iz boom gnarly

Talk to lots of people. Talk nonsense, see if you get a reply. Chat up blokes/women. Scream out loud on the technical bits. Always talk to the marshals. Thats what helps me.

It works for me as well.

uh…..I-Pod?

Hels are you me? I chat my way round as well, scream on descents, etc

if i am riding a long distance, say i’ve done 1/2 the ride i’ll tell myself, that i’ve only done a quarter of it…to keep pushing, etc

Try and solve complex mathematical problems in your head.

Think about how much faster you would be going if you were as fit as you’d like to be.

Think about how much more effort you should be putting in.

Everyone must be overtaken.

Try and solve complex mathematical problems in your head.

i do that.

actually, it’s more like simple addition.

really, i just count pedal revolutions.

never done a proper endurance event though…

Mentally Lasso the trees as you are climbing. Pick a tree about 100yds up the trail, mentally chuck a rope around it, then imagine yourself pulling the rope hand over hand up to the tree. Repeat.

Gets me up the long tedious fire roads 😀

Brain goes off when riding.

Christ, I can’t add 2 and 2 when I’m riding never mind “complex mathematical problems”! I think if you can, you’re either blessed with supreme multi-tasking abilities or (more likely) you’re not going as well/fast as you could.

I have to say, I’m crap at 24hr solo stuff although I’ve done OK at 6, 10 and 12hr races. Concentrate on pace, staying smooth, each time you come to a section again, try and ride it better/faster/smoother than last time. It really helps if there are riders around you as well; if you’re on your own it’s easier for the demons to start talking to you.

Thought burns more calories… don’t think.

capital cities game.
A=Athens
B=Brussels
C=Cairo
Etc. Etc.
Don’t move on ’til you get the current letter, makes hill climbs fly by for me.

D=Damascus

Christ, I can’t add 2 and 2 when I’m riding never mind “complex mathematical problems”! I think if you can, you’re either blessed with supreme multi-tasking abilities or (more likely) you’re not going as well/fast as you could.

Hence

Think about how much more effort you should be putting in.

Definately talking to marshals.Although I sometimes get the feeling they don’t appreciate it.

Not that I have experience of events as such, but on long rides on my own, the maths thing works and I use fractions of distance gone / to go too, so at least it’s not just me! Talking to animals is always good fun – sheep especially. It’s weird as I like the solitude of long rides on my own, but sometimes it’s nice to say ‘good morning’ to a sheep. Ahem.

I recall Bradley Wiggins saying during the year he had a good time in the Alps on the Tour that, I think, Lance had advised him to get through the huge climbs using something like; “Keep pushing for 3 minutes – that’s how long everyone around you feels like from cracking. Get through that, and do another 3 minutes.” It’s incredible to think of guys like them getting through such massive climbs like that, but I guess it’s breaking down huge problems into managable chunks, isn’t it?

I sing songs in my head, often my own words in repetitive little rhymes. I also imagine I’m on other trails, especially when on uphill slogs when in my head I’m riding a hill that I’ve conquered before. Plus I’ll count myself up steep bits to a repetitive rythym. Other times my head drifts off to some amazing places, usually with an amazing imaginary person but probably best not to go there….. 😉

Not scientific, but I break them down into many single rides but with slower averages.
For example I’ll do eight rides in preparation, so I treat the usual 2pm start like the start of an eight hour ride, that’ll take me to 10pm. After that I break it up into 3/4 hour rides. Does that make sense 😐 I’m basically trying not to think about the whole 24 hours at all.
Bite size efforts.

Glad to see I’m not alone, keep your crazy thoughts coming 🙂

I like the tree lasso trick will be trying that one!

I’m still thinking about doing another solo as I think I’m fitter now than when I was doing them. However, my head went in the last 3 or 4 solos I did.
The main problem is laps, laps do my head in during xc races so doing 24 hours worth is a major problem. Especially if there’s part of a course I really hate, that’ll haunt me the whole time.
The other issue is poor weather, when it gets to the point where everyone is struggling to walk sections and the campsite is emptying out rapidly, I get for want of another word wound up.
Before I did another,I’d need some mechanism for dealing with those issues, other wise I’d just pack.
12s are okay,and I think they should be ridden non stop.

I promise my self a bacon sandwich or some thing nice every so many laps then seem to drift off thinking about it mmmmmmmmm does seem to work tho .

Sports psychologist friend of mine gave some great advice. No matter what you are trying to achieve whether its just to drag your lazy bones out of bed in the morning or to try and stay motivated on a 24th solo, it all comes down to targets. She said something about training and setting targets that were S.M.A.R.T.E.R (Specific, Measurable, Achieveable, Realistic, Timed, enjoyable and reviewable)or something like that.

She gave my mate excellent mental tricks to help him with his rock-climbing. really helped him push his grade. Anchoring and self-talk (as illustrated by EVERYONE above) really helped him.

Don’t do ‘events’ but only ever ride alone. I just think about everything, what I see around me, whats going on in life etc. Nothing I could think of worse than riding with someone yapping down my ear. Solitude is absolute bliss!!

i tend talk allot when riding out loud sometimes to myself,marshals,im also that annoying person that talks to you while climbing also usualy making personal oh shit noise at any point

also as mentiond everyone has to be overtaken even if they over take u less than a second later 😆

The techniques you are looking for are technically known as Coping Strategies. There has been a few (more so recently) sport psychology studies in this area. This was the main area of study for my degree and I’ve done a couple of case studies on it. It’s an area I find fascinating. I get really quite excited when talking about it so sorry if this post goes on a bit!!
Strategies tend to be in one of three areas – visualisation, centering and self-talk.
Eviljoe has a fantastic visualisation strategy (tree lassooing) and most of you seem to include self-talk in your replies. The main thing is to do something positive, which even screaming out loud can be. If you talk or do sums etc to distract yourself from the situation you are doing something positive to avoid the situation, the same goes for just taking yourself away, mentally.
If you have a particular part of a course that you hate then you need to either find a way to avoid it mentally and just get through it (as already mentioned) or to deal with it (approach it) mentally or physically.
This could involve beaking the section down and trying to get through more of it than last time. Or it could involve changing bikes or tyres. Or getting off and checking the section out and then trying something different next time. The key thing is you are trying something positive and not focusing on the negative.
If you find yourself getting really wound up then centering helps especially if it is combined with positive self-talk. Centering is basically using a pre-practised key word or physical movement to get your head and body back on track.
TBH there is a huge amount you can do and a post to explain it here would be too long. I hope some of the stuff I’ve written helps, just ask if you want more detailed info.

I talk to almost anyone.
Some riders are obviously taking it all very seriously and are ahead of me and gone in no time, so it’s not worth trying to get a conversation going with them, but there are always plenty of solo riders like me who are struggling just to keep moving and most of them seem to appreciate a bit of banter.
I always talk to the marshals too.

I’m lucky in that I wear distinctive kit and I’m the only mountain bike endurance racer wearing that kit, so a lot of people recognise me by now. That, and the fact I shout “Go Vegan” at all and sundry means I get a lot of people shout “Go Vegan” back at me, which I find a big help for motivation.

Non essential mental arithmetic is out of the question.
I keep track of my individual lap times, so I will always know after a few laps that I am lapping in say, 45 minutes.
However, if I go out with 3 hours to go, I can spend an entire lap trying to work out if I can get 2, 3 or 4 more laps in and still not be sure of the answer when I get back with 2:15 to go. It’s like all the blood goes to my legs and my brain just shuts down.

loddrik
only ever ride alone… Nothing I could think of worse than riding with someone yapping down my ear. Solitude is absolute bliss!!

+1

Several options. If not racing or riding hard I just let my mind wander, I find it very relaxing. Also find that I often end up thinking about decisions I need to make and life in general.

If I’m racing/ hard training I normally concentrate on the race. Next feedstation, how do my legs feel, eating enough, drniking enough, best lines down hill, maintaining a fast pace up the hill without over doing it. My mind is pretty blank apart from that sort of stuff. Again very nice to do if you’re a bit stressed as you have to live in the moment and it’s quite similar to some meditation techniques.

Same for swimming, just focus on technique and pace and otherwise very little.