Running psychology – top tips for achieving mental toughness

Understanding and managing your mental state during training and events can improve not just your performance but reduce stress and enhance your overall well-being.  

In this article, written by University of Brighton’s Dr Anastasiya Khomutova – a chartered psychologist – we focus on top tips to help with ‘mind over matter’. 

Anastasiya has worked with athletes and coaches preparing for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the World Transplant Games, Figure Skating World Championships and the Euro Championships. 

Break the Distance into Manageable Segments 

Whether it is four 2.5k / two parkruns for the 10k distance, or four 10k / two half marathons for the full marathon, mentally dividing the whole distance into smaller chunks will be a great trick for your mind to make the race more achievable.  

Shifting focus on completing each segment strong instead of running the whole race will also help you to complete the whole distance. 

Embrace the pain 

Feeling discomfort is absolutely normal during racing – whether you are running your first marathon or aiming for a PB in 10k, we can all agree that most likely it will not be the most pleasant experience!  

Accepting your pain (especially in the marathon) will be a useful technique for your resilience. You can try reframing your pain or discomfort into the evidence of your effort (‘This is my body adapting’, ‘This is where I get stronger’). 

However, listen to your body – watch out for the signs of an injury, or, if you have a health condition, make sure you are not pushing yourself beyond your limits. 

Use a mantra and self-talk 

Before your race, think about a statement or affirmation that will help you to stay focused and motivated (‘I’m running for my family’). You can create a mantra matching your step pattern (‘Light and strong’ or ‘Fast and smooth’).  

Your self-talk can be positive (‘My breathing is controlled’), motivational (‘I can do it’), instructional (‘Relax your shoulders’), short-term goal oriented (‘Get to the next mile’) or spiritual (‘God is with me’).  

Try to trial these strategies in your training before the race day, so you can adapt them if necessary.

Race your own race 

I cannot stress this point enough!  

Beginning of the race is always so exciting, so much adrenalin, cheering, energy… There is a big temptation to start running really fast from the very start (especially when so many people might be overtaking you at the beginning, that’s not a nice feeling, is it?), but this is when you need to remind yourself about your pacing strategy.  

You definitely don’t want to set your PB in half marathon during a marathon race, only to be absolutely exhausted in the second half. Race smart. And then overtake those who didn’t! 

Enjoy 

As they say, the race is just a victory lap for all the training you have done. Running is amazing, being at the start line is a great achievement!  

Soak up the atmosphere, give high fives to marshals, grab those jelly babies from the supporters, and have a brilliant day! 

If your event is the marathon here are some additional tips

The dreaded wall  

If you are training for a marathon, you have probably heard about ‘hitting the wall’ one time too many, but people are talking about it for a reason. The best way to overcome ‘the wall’, when your energy levels drop around mile 18-20, is to have an appropriate nutrition strategy and to expect that ‘the wall’ might happen.  

This is when your mantra and your ‘why’, together with that energy gel or whatever you can stomach at that point, will get you through the wall. 

Use distractions 

Counting steps, trees, focusing on your breathing, counting backwards, visualising a strong finish – these are just some mental strategies that will help you to distract yourself. 

Have a strong ‘why’

Remind yourself of all the hard training you’ve done and what kept you going through the winter training. Remind yourself why finishing this marathon means so much to you.  

If the thoughts of quitting arise, acknowledge them – it’s only normal for your brain to tell you to quit this gruelling race! And then let those thoughts go – you can visualise those thoughts flying away in a balloon, for example. Remind yourself that your WHY is bigger than your thoughts about quitting. 

Smile!

You might know about Eliud Kipchoge’s strategy to smile when it hurts. Some studies show that smiling helps reduce stress and help with pain recovery, so even if you don’t feel like smiling fake it if necessary to start the process.

As a bonus, you will have some nice smiley pictures too! 

Learn about studying sport and exercise at the University of Brighton. 

References  

• Hammer, C., & Podlog, L. (2016). Motivation and marathon running. Marathon running: Physiology, psychology, nutrition and training aspects, 107-124. 
• Luu, J. H., Acevedo, A. M., Pourmand, V., & Pressman, S. D. (2025). The power of smiles: mitigating pain through facial expression. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1-10.  
• Roebuck, G. S., Fitzgerald, P. B., Urquhart, D. M., Ng, S. K., Cicuttini, F. M., & Fitzgibbon, B. M. (2018). The psychology of ultra-marathon runners: A systematic review. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 37, 43-58. 
• Van Raalte, J. L., Morrey, R. B., Cornelius, A. E., & Brewer, B. W. (2015). Self-talk of marathon runners. The Sport Psychologist, 29(3), 258-260.Ufer, M. (2019). Mental Toughness for Runners: A Complete Guide. Meyer & Meyer Sport.