Psychological tips to prepare for an Ultra Trail race

There is no doubt that physical fitness is essential to overcome an Ultra Trail race, which is very demanding and requires specific preparation for at least a certain amount of time. However, although less talked about, the emotional or psychological side also plays a key role.

Making the decision to take on an ultra-endurance trial involves many factors and if we have the necessary psychological tools we can make the decision more consciously and, therefore, wisely. But this not only helps us to make the decision itself, but also to prepare ourselves psychologically to face the test and the whole training period ahead of us.

If there is one thing we must be clear about, it is that the mind plays a fundamental role in this type of competition. In the Tenerife Bluetrail by UTMB® it is clear to us that having the psychological tools makes the process and the goal itself easier.

Psychological keys: understanding emotions in order to manage them

Surely most (or all) people who take on ultra-endurance races at some point or other have thoughts like: "What was I thinking when I signed up for this?", "What am I doing here?", "I'm going to make a fool of myself if I don't finish" and so on and so forth.

Well, it is normal in times of stress or when under a lot of pressure, to have such thoughts, but today what we are going to learn is to reflect on the feelings we have when we train or compete. If we identify these emotions we can understand their motives and manage them successfully.

To do so, we are going to ask you five questions, which you should answer honestly. You should then look for the presence of emotions in your answers and reflect on why each of them is present. You may also identify the absence of an emotion and wonder why it is not present.

• How do I feel before training for a big event? • How do I feel after training for a big event? • How do I feel after finishing a long distance race? • How do I feel at the starting line and the days leading up to the race? • How do I feel during an ultra-endurance race?

How can we set our goals?

When planning the season and choosing the events we want to do, we should ask ourselves some questions to help us make good decisions. It is good to ask ourselves questions such as: Why should I register? What do I want to achieve in that competition? or What impact will preparing for and participating in that race have on me? This last question is also very important in order to be aware of all that this race will entail, not only on a physical level, but also on a psychological, economic, professional, social, etc. level.

Being clear about expectations and the possible consequences of achieving them or not will make us stronger to face all kinds of situations. Analysing the situation will help us to be more prepared, as knowing our own limits will make us feel much freer and reduce the pressure.

In short, making conscious decisions, establishing achievable goals and knowing how to manage your emotions are key to training for an Ultra Trail as well as for your many training sessions.