You can have a huge VO2max, great running economy, process lactate like no one’s business, consume a gazillion calories without an ounce of GI issues, not have a single ache, perfect weather, have a solid taper, and still have a shitty performance in an ultramarathon, not because of anything other than where your mental energy is and has been. If your mind gets hooked on unhelpful thoughts, self-doubt, distractions, if your energy is focused on life events before or during a race, stress at work, and general life stress, it’s going to be tough to have your best performance. In fact, I’d wager that the best ultrarunners and mountain athletes are able to manage this energy effectively. This is not to say they don’t have life stressors. They manage them differently.

Energy Management isn’t just About Consuming Calories

Energy management is critical in the mountains. Attention has to be precise.

We think of energy management a lot in terms of how we’re utilizing and consuming calories, what our pace is and what our effort is during a race, these are solid things that exercise physiologists can test and get nice data for. What’s hard to test is where are minds are during the race, and an even more challenging metric, how much energy our minds are utilizing under duress.

Let’s think about a couple things. If you work at a desk job and aren’t utilizing a lot of calories by moving, have you ever come home just exhausted because of a stressful day? Have you ever just been exhausted after a long day driving? Recently, I did a couple long drives from my home in Colorado to Arizona. It takes 13-14 hours, I was not only exhausted, even though I got the calories for the day, and slept well the night before, but my heart rate was higher that evening and heart rate variability was a lot lower. Could be a coincidence, but these are physiological metrics that typically indicate increased stress.

Less Variability in Mood, Better Performance

Research (2021) seems to suggest that those with a ‘reduced mood variability’ as being associated with an enhanced performance during ultramarathons. What I take that to be is that these athletes are better able to redirect their attention to what matters most. They don’t easily get hooked on unhelpful thoughts, they put mental energy into the present and controllable variables.

Where Positivity Goes Wrong

In her fantastic book Peak Mind, Amishi Jha reports on a study that she and her colleagues did comparing mindfulness with ‘positivity training’ with members of the military. What they found was not only was mindfulness training more successful, but positivity training depleted attention and working memory. It takes a lot of work, and energy, trying to force your mind to be something it’s not, at that moment.

Look, running 100 miles isn’t easy, in fact, it’s really painful at times. Just like rock-climbing or mountaineering. Your mind is naturally going to scream “QUIT.” Don’t get me wrong, mantras and positive self-talk can be, and are helpful as plenty of studies have demonstrated. Equally, practicing gratitude and smiling can be really helpful. But remember, if it’s forced, it might not work as well. If we are able to get to a point where our attention is less focused in pushing away thoughts and feelings and able to redirect it to the things that are important that are controllable, and be in the present, we’re going to have a more successful experience. That energy needs to be directed to the right place.

Mindfulness. Being Present Takes Less Energy

Mindful attention takes way less energy than trying to be positive.

Mindfulness isn’t about sitting on a cushion and visioning a beautiful beach. That’s relaxation. There’s benefit to that, but that’s not what we’re looking for. What mindfulness is, is nonjudgmentally recognizing our thoughts, feelings, sensations, acknowledging them and redirecting our attention back to the moment. Not pushing the thoughts away, that takes energy! It takes energy when we’re hooked on them, processing them, fighting them. But when we simply acknowledge them, we create the space and are able to refocus like a flashlight on trail in front of us. When we do this we’re going to have more successful outcomes. (Another advantage is you increase the likelihood of feelings of flow.)

Ultimately, it’s going to take less energy directing our attention to the present than fighting thoughts. We can’t control our thoughts, but we have a choice in what we do with them. Think of all the thoughts you’ve had today that you didn’t act on… Let’s try something else, I do this a lot with clients. Think of your favorite ice cream. Really, get a super good picture of it. Maybe it’s Cherry Garcia, maybe it’s plain vanilla, or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. (If you don’t like ice cream think of a pink elephant). OK, get really into it, what does it taste like, what does it smell like, what does it feel like as you eat it… Ok now stop thinking about ice cream. No, don’t distract yourself, that’s too easy. Stop on the dime….It’s hard too. In fact, it takes energy to stop that thought.

What if I Have a Lot of Energy Sucking Life Events Going on Around Me

While we can do our best to unhook and refocus from these unhelpful thoughts and feelings. We can’t control stress sometimes. Shit happens all around us. Children get sick. We experience a loss. We buy a home, get married. Have a baby. Our dog eats a glove, and we have to pay for surgery (yea, that happened to me last year…twice). Pandemics happen. These are all life stressors. These take a lot of energy, we get exhausted. Yes, training and racing can be a great way to decrease stress. However, too much training and racing during these periods can also lead to injury and burnout. (Also, ask yourself are avoiding something by doing that run or climb?) Being aware of what’s going on in your life, how the stress is affecting you can help you tremendously when it comes time to race. Be compassionate with yourself. That doesn’t mean laying down and giving up, just means you’re accepting of where you are right now in your life, not forcing it away, not distracting yourself, recognize it is what is, now refocus that light of attention on to the process, actionable steps in whatever it is you’re doing to reach. your goal.

Completing the Bighorn 100 was all about energy management. Focused on the process. Self-compassionate, mindful movement. Photo Courtesy of Mile 90 Photography.

Here are Five Things You Can Do to Conserve Energy:

1) Practice Mindfulness. Be Here Now. Recognize discomfort, name it, note it, and come back to here.

2) Practice Recovery. Put the energy back into yourself, good nutrition, hydration, connecting with others and above all, sleep!

3) Practice Self-Compassion. What would you tell a friend right now? Beating yourself up uses way more energy than simply holding yourself kindly.

4) Practice Self-Awareness. Recognize stress. What life events are sucking energy away from you right now? Am I constantly battling my mind instead of focusing on the event?

5) Seek Help! You’re not alone. Stress can get overwhelming there’s help out there. Please reach out to me here so we can connect to see if we’re a good fit.

If you enjoyed this and it was helpful please share it with others. Stay tuned for more content next week!

Burgum, P. & Smith, D.T. (2021). Reduced mood variability is associated with enhanced performance during ultrarunning. Plos One, 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256888

Jha, Amishi. (2021). Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention. Invest 12 Minutes a Day. HarperOne

Managing Energy for Endurance and Mountain Athletes