Ever since my less than spectacular performance at the Mount Toby Trail Race two weekends ago I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the whole sports psychology thing. In a way I’m surprised that I didn’t think about this sooner. Before I went back to school for my Bachelor’s in Nursing, I earned my first Bachelor’s in Psychology, and even though I chose not to work in that field, it still remains an interest of mine.
While I was out on my run today I was thinking about the whole training journal thing. I maintain a training log on RunningAHEAD.com, and in the past I’ve also tried workoutlog.com and buckeyeoutdoors.com, but found them to be lacking. A few months ago though I started also keeping track of my training on dailymile.com. Now certainly there isn’t a need for two journals, so why the duplication of effort? For those of you unfamiliar with dailymile.com I describe it to my friends as the facebook of training journals. There’s a heavy amount of social networking on the site. In fact, many of my dailymile friends are also twitter friends. Athletes on dailymile add friends and keep track of each other’s races and training. You can comment on your friends’ workouts, issue challenges to each other, find other athletes that are running the same races you are, and send “motivation” to each other. It’s highly interactive.
And that’s when it dawned on me why I like dailymile so much. It’s not just the social aspect of it, it’s that I think I train better because of it. Let me explain - I remember learning many years ago about a psychological phenomenon known as the Hawthorne Effect. In short, the Hawthorne Effect gets its name from the factory where the behavior was observed. Workers in the Hawthorne Works factory believed they were participating in a work prductivity study involving the influence of different types of lighting on performance. What the researchers found however was that the productivity increased NOT because of the the luminosity of the lighting, but simply because the workers knew that they were being observed. In a way, that’s what dailymile is for me. Even when I’m out running by myself in the middle of nowhere, I know that I’m being observed because as soon as I get done with my run, I import my running data into my training logs. Any time I feel like “doggin’ it” I make myself push on and keep going.
And then I started to think about how much better I might perform if I had a coach. Certainly I’d do better because of the smart training, but there is another psychological phenomenon at work when people work with coaches. It’s called the Pygmalion Effect. The Pygmalion Effect traditionally refers to students performing better so that they can meet the expectations of their teachers, but certainly the parallel is there. If coach says he wants me to meet a challenging goal, chances are I’d be more likely to meet it because of his high expectations.
Anyway, that’s my thought for the day. If you’re not already taking advantage of an online training journal, take a look at dailymile and see if you like it.
Until next time, happy training, stay healthy, and have fun.
very nice post. where some find motivation - i find the possibility of burn-out. that might be related to personality types. though i am aware of my pace (at all times it seems
). posting it everyday on daily mile and then looking at the pace of others can really bring some soiling elements into my running-life. i love dailymile and will continue to participate, but i have grown to see some of the dangers it can have for a person like me (like jumping my miles up too quickly and getting injured 
). know thyself - that is key. cheers bro.
I’m SUCH a sports-psychology geek, and much like keeping a food journal for eating, I feel like keeping a running journal can help identify helpful/unhelpful thoughts before and after training. Looking at what you were thinking about before a given run, then seeing how you performed on that run, is amazing. Something as simple as “I always feel crappy in the heat” becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that could be avoided by simply saying, “It’s hot, but everyone else is suffering as much as I am,” instead.
@ rob - I see your point. I am friends with ALL sorts of runners and triathletes on dailymile. Some slower and newer than me and some faster and more experienced than me. So consequently I don’t have any difficulty sticking to my training plan. I don’t feel compelled to up my miles and compete with the Caleb’s of the world (dailymilers probably know Caleb) because I know he’s simply a superior athlete either by years of training or genetic luck. But just as Caleb inspires me to train tough, hopefully I do the same for someone newer.
And not to get all gushy here Rob, but following you has inspired me. A few weeks ago I showed my wife your before and after photos and all the miles that you log. Quite impressive. In many ways we are similar. We both ran competitively when younger, fell off the wagon for a while, and came back to running with the zeal of a convert. I, like you, suffered 2 stress fractures (and all the mental trauma that goes along with it) and I’m training smarter this time to avoid a 3rd. While you’ve already started doing ultras, it is still a goal for me.
Even the manner with which you have dealt with your latest injury (staying fit with roller blading until the fracture heals) is impressive. Heal fast and come back stronger.
@ amy - I’m not surprised you commented on this particular post. I thought this was right up your alley. Another mind trick I do is the “mantra lie”. When I’m tackling a really tough hill, I just keep repeating “I love this hill. I own this hill.” in my mind. Soon enough I realize that I’ve crested the hill and I really do love it (the backside of it anyway.)
Thanks for the comments and discussion guys.
thx bro