Inside the mind of ultra-endurance athletes

Abstract

Ultra-endurance athletes participate in extreme endurance events lasting many hours (Nikolaidis et al., 2018). These long races are very psychologically challenging, especially due to the pain and discomfort these athletes experience (Portelli, 2018). The aim of this study is to explore what goes on inside the mind of an ultra-endurance athlete during these unforgiving races; what they focus on, what mental strategies they use to keep a positive mindset and stay motivated, and also how they cope with pain. This exploratory research investigates the experiences of six ultra-endurance athletes through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The analysis of the interviews shows that these athletes are very resilient and have high levels of intrinsic motivation. Some participants focus only on race-related stimuli and become fully immersed in the present moment, while others disconnect themselves and empty their mind. Visualization is a popular method for mental preparation, and is also commonly used during the actual races. Participants also make use of short-term goal-setting in order to stay motivated. Some also find positive self-talk effective. The most common techniques for coping with pain were; accepting it, ignoring it, and fixing it when possible. The participants agreed that in this sport, physical suffering is inevitable, so the mind has to be strong enough to overcome it. The findings of this study imply that the mind plays an important role in this sport and it is crucial for these athletes to find mental strategies that work for them and undergo psychological preparation before an ultra.