Everyone knows that insanely good feeling of achieving a personal fitness goal, whether itâs your first 10k, lifting a PB or completing a marathon.
And we all know itâs not just the physical training that gets us through, itâs also our minds telling us not to give up.
But some people decide to go one step further, taking on extreme fitness challenges like a series of marathons in consecutive days.
So how do they do it?
Mental toughness is crucial in achieving success, and having the ability to persevere when your body is telling you to stop.
âYour mental training is just as important as your physical training, your hydration, your nutrition, your race plan,â Carrie Cheadle, expert in mental skills training and author of âMental Skills to Maximize Your Athletic Performanceâ told HuffPost UK. âItâs another spoke in the wheel.â
âAny fitness performance is 50% physical and 50% mental,â said Cheadle.
âYou would never show up to your event not having done your physical training and preparation, so why show up not having done any of your mental training and preparation?â
Some people may take on a fitness challenge feeling confident from the start that theyâll get to the finish line.
Keith Simpson ran 26 marathons around the world in alphabetical order. He was 64 when he ran his first marathon. Simpson didnât train himself mentally, because he has always âaccepted things as they happen in lifeâ and has never been a worrier.
âMarathons are never easy, and there is no way of predicting how any race will go,â he told HuffPost UK.
âBut I always feel if I get past 20 miles feeling OK, the last six miles will not be a problem. With that attitude, not too many races have been real struggles.â
But Cheadle said anyone can âreach into the depths of their mindâ and pull out strength they need to get through a challenge.
âI tell my athletes that itâs their physical preparation to get them to the start line and their mental preparation that gets them to the finish,â she said.
âAnyone can perform well when theyâre having a great day, the stars are aligned, and everything is going exactly the way you wanted it to. But rarely is there an event where youâre not faced with some unforeseen challenge or obstacle.
âYour mental strength is what helps you get through those challenges and be able to continue on the path to your goal.â
Phil Payne, 32, has completed a range of challenges including the Iron Man, Marathon des Sables and a 100-hour spin. He said all these have been more mentally challenging than they have physically.
âItâs just a question of telling yourself that this feeling wonât last forever and just how good it will feel when you overcome it,â he said, explaining how his mind helped him get through.
âHaving people behind you and support helps loads and having a reputation of doing things that most people canât do is a boost as you want to maintain that.
âSome of the quotes from âRockyâ films help me loads, too. I replay them in my head.
âMental resilience is about not being afraid to go into that dark place where no one is around and you feel so, so alone.â
Teaching yourself to be strong is possible, but not easy.Amy Hughes, who ran 53 marathons in 53 days.
Amy Hughes, who ran 53 marathons in 53 days, as well as running 521 miles on a treadmill in one week, puts her successes down to mental preparation.
âTeaching yourself to be strong is possible, but not easy,â she told HuffPost UK. âMy training consisted of more mental preparation than physical.â
âI tried to get more hours on the road than miles so mentally I knew I could stay on my feet. I also tried not to focus on the negatives. Itâs easy to get wrapped up in what experts say you âshouldâ be doing.
âItâs easy to let the negatives take over. Itâs easy to let worry and self doubt take over but once that goes, itâs hard to pull yourself through tough times.â
But thatâs not to say it came easy to Hughes. In every challenge sheâs undertaken, her mental strength has been tested to the extreme.
âI am the most stubborn person I know, so that is a big help, but sometimes itâs hard to breakthrough the pain barrier when you feel like you canât go on,â she said.
âIt might sound a bit cheesy but I created a mantra. When I get tired or really want to quit, I repeat it in my head and it slowly turns my self doubt into âIâve got thisâ.
âI donât know where it came from or why I chose these words but itâs: âYou are strong, you are fearless, donât stopâ.â
Gaining mental strength is a process, said Cheadle, and not something that will come with the click of your fingers.
âMental toughness is absolutely something you can develop,â she added. âYour mental skills are just like physical skills in that they can be built and strengthened with training and practice.â
Cheadle said itâs down to three things:
1. Commitment
âMotivation might be the thing that gets you going, but commitment is what keeps you going,â she said. âWhen you are committed to the goal, any setbacks you encounter are temporary and itâs not a matter of if you accomplish your goal, but when.â
2. Focus
âOne of the characteristics of mentally tough athletes is that they are able to perform under pressure and able to perform consistently,â she said.
âWhen you are mentally tough you stay in the present moment, keep your focus on the things that are in your control, and arenât distracted by things irrelevant to your performance.â
3. Attitude
âYou have to believe you can do this,â she said. âMentally tough athletes have an unshakeable belief in their ability to accomplish their goals and know that one bad day doesnât define them.
âYou use failures as feedback. Failures donât make you want to throw in the towel, they make you want it even more.â