Beat the mental barriers in lap races

Kate Dzienis • December 21, 2017

Cognitive mental strategies are one of the most fundamental elements for effective ultra-race preparation.

You can’t expect to complete a long distance run without going through various stages of mental processing, and it can be difficult enough training for an event with all the physical challenges, let alone learning how to prepare mentally and emotionally for one.

Seasoned ultra-runners will already have unique coping mechanisms, while those just starting out are yet to experience the mental barriers which are so exceptionally one-of-a-kind to the sport.

And while we all learn about how our individual minds work when racing against the clock, a new trend has emerged for the type of race we participant in – the lap course, either completed at an athletics stadium on track or done as loops on roads, trails or walkways.

So when you’re signed up for a 100kms event, what’s the best way to prepare for going around in circles?

Physically, you know you’ve got this. You’re putting in between 70 and 120kms per week, perhaps more, and you’ve combined all sorts of other training regimens with your runs like strength work, intervals, and hill repeats just to name a few.

Sports psychologist Graziella Thake has worked with elite and national sports teams for over two decades, and has a background in helping top athletes with their sports performance. She says that when it comes to mental preparation, the brain likes rehearsals – humans are creatures of habit, and the key for any runner is to complete a reconnaissance (recce or recon).

The reason why this sort of preparation is essential from a mental and neurological point of view is because reducing shock and impact is the most important part of engaging in any sport. A one directional race is generally perfect for a runner because the constant change of imagery and scenery stops the mindset that leans towards fatiguing.

But loops are a different ballgame altogether.

‘If a runner has to go back and forth, they need to pre-prepare for that like a track and fielder,” she explains.

‘It’s a different kind of runner who chooses a lap course; some runners actually really like and enjoy running around a track, and it’s here they can easily slip into a ‘zone’ where each lap becomes a part of what they’ve rehearsed.

“Runners need to consider terrain, climate and pace, and view these as part of their preparation, rehearsing and thinking about what is going to require from your body and your focus.”

All runners have different coping techniques – some are high level emotional people while others are more task focused, so it’s important to take advantage of recognising which type you are. Understanding how you cope with situations like fatigue will allow you to readily tackle them head on, and asking yourself what are the points that pressure you and how will you react to them, may very well give you a head start on the situation before you even get there.

“Acclimatisation and rehearsal are the keys to an athlete’s success,” Ms Thake says.

“So too is the ability to be resilient in any condition either self-imposed or externally imposed.”

Perth ultra-runner Tony Smith has a fair bit of experience racing in lap courses. In November 2016 he entered the 12-hour event for the Lighthorse Ultra (Yellagonga Regional Park, Woodvale, WA) which was held on a 2.5kms out-and-back loop on a terrain of asphalt, limestone and boardwalk.

Smith says his preparation included looking for all the positives from running a lap race.

“All the positives I looked for included the fact that it was spectator and family friendly with other runners in sight, I could gauge where all the competition was throughout the race, the toilet was no more than a lap away, and it was easy to recce beforehand,” he reveals.

“I knew exactly what was coming after every lap, there were no surprises, and there was no chance of getting lost either; knowing I could set up my own aid station with a great variety of nutrition and fluids also gave me an advantage to get my headspace ready.”

Smith is clearly a task focused runner, giving himself distance goals at Lighthorse to keep his brain busy, and rewarding himself with short walks after 100kms, snacks and drinks like ginger beer, and later allowing himself to sing out loud while listening to 1980s tunes.

“I always try to neutralise my emotions and feelings during long races with distractions, and focus on things that are within my control,” he says.

“There’s no point in wasting energy on anything that is uncontrollable.”

Smith’s mental game worked – he came second, taking in a total of 123.880kms (49 laps).

Ms Thake, who is from the Optimisation Hub, explains with out and back courses like Lighthorse, making a connection with people at aid stations can see a big impact on performance as well as watching other races online to gain performance confidence.

“Running like all performance is multidimensional and many things will impact on performance,” she says.

“A runner’s resilience and preparation as well as their ability to be future focused on what they have prepared for will give them neurological conditioning that will boost their performance.

“The key is ritual, rehearsal, and resilience knowledge; recognising what your triggers are, and performance preparation.”

Lap courses can indeed be overwhelming, however understanding how you fatigue, familiarising yourself with the course, and coming to terms with the fact you’ll be doing loops will allow you to prepare on a level that will help you overcome those moments of doubt or anguish.

Activate your brain to push through the barriers and trigger yourself with a strategy. Conquer the lap course with these preparation tools, and you’ll find yourself winning the mental race and the physical race.

Pictured (feature image): Perth AURA member Tony Smith competing in the 2016 Lighthorse Ultra 12-hour event. Photograph – Kate Dzienis.

Pictured: Tony Smith crossing the finish line at the 2016 Australia Day Ultra 50kms, also a lap course. Photograph – Alexis Oosterhoff.

Tips from Graziella Thake:

Keep a log on your chosen event and include things like terrain, weather conditions, time of day, how long it takes you to relax prior and after a race, as well as how you know you are relaxed and what you did before and after any warmups.
Check in on yourself every few kilometres, asking yourself how are you feeling, what do you need to do during your run before you next check in with yourself, and setting short term goals to keep yourself physically activated.
Use your adrenals and thymus (thymals are between your breastplate, adrenals are above the kidney) for better performance. Learn how to thump the thymals on a run to release a quick feel-good chemical every 6kms, and practice using your arms to overextend at the back to thump your adrenals to release a quick boost of energy.

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AUTRA News Report 19-02-2025

By Kate Dzienis • February 19, 2025

The latest in race results, covering Cradle Mountain Run, City Run, Oscars 100 Hut 2 Hut and Yaberoo Trail Ultra.

Final 2024 Points Competition Results

By Alexis Oosterhoff • January 30, 2025

Results for the 2024 AUTRA Points Competition have been finalised, and are available on our Points Competition page. Full details of the top 10 (as shared on Facebook during January) are detailed below, and results for all participating AUTRA members can be found in the documents at the above link. It was a real battle throughout the year between our top two finishers, Phil Gore & Kevin "BK" Matthews, with both giving it their it their all at events, and through contributions to the community - volunteering at multiple events, and submitting articles to our monthly newsletter, Ultramag. They finished within 2km of total distance for the year (Phil on 1203.087km, and Kevin on 1205.510km), and it was only Phil's final volunteering effort on 6 Inch Trail Marathon in December that gave him the that very narrow victory. As you'd be aware from previous communications, this marks the end of the Points Competition. With trail running (of all distances) now incorporated into AU T RA's constitution, and after careful consideration of the costs of the competition payouts in it's current form, the committee felt it was time for it's retirement. This marks my seventh and final year of delivering the points competition to membership (2018-2024), after taking on the role from Cheryl Symons. It has brought me great joy in doing so, and I feel like I've had an opportunity to get to know so many of our members through seeing their race (and volunteering) performances over the years! I'm continuing in my role as the AUS/NZL statistician for DUV (from whom we shared the data for the points comp), and you can expect to continue to find your ultra-race result on their site. 1st Place - Phil Gore (WA) - 86 points Phil's achievements this year have included a massive 265.653km (and 2nd place) at the IAU 24h Asia & Oceania Championships, wins at the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra (33 laps), the Australian leg of Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship (96 laps), and the Soochow/Taipei 24h Ultramarathon (270.826km). He also knocked out an easy (!) 72km at the Light Horse Ultra 24h in between supporting his amazing wife Gemma. Those two 24h wins netted Phil new Oceania 24h Open Male records, IAU Level 1 qualifiers, and pushed him to the top of Australia's 24h trophy board (with only the great Yiannis Kouros having run further). Phil topped-up his points by contributing one article to Ultramag, worked as an Event Director at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, and volunteered at a further five events through the year. He finished on 86 points. 2nd Place - Kevin Matthews (WA) - 84 points Finishing in 2nd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Kevin Matthews. He monstered his way through the year with finishes at Australia Day Ultra 100km, Delirious WEST 200mi, 24 laps at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, 190km at Light Horse Ultra 24h, 23 laps at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, and also completed Feral Pig 100 miler, Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km. And to top things off, he contributed five articles to Ultramag, and volunteered at five events. BK ran 1205km in Ultramarathon races this year, all of them AUTRA-listed, and surpassed 100 marathon finishes (including 51 Ultramarathons!) Kevin finished the year on 84 points, a massive 34 points ahead of our 3rd place finisher Sue Robertson. 3rd Place - Sue Robertson (WA) - 50 points Finishing in 3rd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Sue Robertson. Sue completed the Ultra Series 100 miler trilogy of Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST, and rounded out her year with the Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km races. She received 30 points from the racing at AUTRA-listed events, and was awarded a further 20 points by volunteering across eight events and contributing two articles to Ultramag, for a total of 50 points for the year. Thank you Sue! 4th Place - Margie Hadley (WA) - 47 points Finishing in 4th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Margie Hadley . She was the top-female finisher at both the No Time to Die Frontyard Ultra & Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, 2nd at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, ran 182km at the Australian 24h Track Invitational and placed 3rd at Coast to Kosci. Margie received 47 points in the competition 5th Place - Melissa Robertson (NSW) - 44 points Finishing in 5th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Melissa Robertson. Melissa took out 1st place at Irrational SOUTH 200 miler, 2nd place at Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place at Hume & Hovell 100 miler, 3rd place at Rumble in the Jungle and 6th place at Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100 miler! She also volunteered at the GNW 50km event, receiving 44 points in the competition! 6th Place - Aaron Young (WA) - 42 points Finishing in 6th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Aaron Young . Aaron finished in 1st place at each of the Ultra Series "Triple Crown" of 200 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), 55 laps at Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship, and rounded his year out with Feral Pig 100 miler. Aaron receives 42 points, just nudging ahead of Maree Connor (who also finished on 42 points) on a count-back 7th Place - Maree Connor (NSW) - 42 points Finishing in 7th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Maree Connor. Maree had an outstanding year, achieving 2nd place with 221km (and an IAU Level 1 qualifier) at the IAU 24th Asian and Oceania Championships, 1st place at the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place with 67km at the Southern Sydney 6h race, and 1st place with 116km at the Narrabeen Allnighter 12h. Maree also competed at Spartathlon race this year (for which she contributed an article to the September Ultramag on her experience), receiving 42 points in the competition. 8th Place - Darren Linney (SA) - 41 points Finishing in 8th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is SA's Darren Linney . Darren completed 34 laps at No Time to Die BYU, 199km at the Adelaide 24h race, and 814km at the Australian 6 Day race, for a total of 1241km raced and 41 points . 9th Place - Tristan Cameron (WA) - 40 points Finishing in 9th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Tristan Cameron. Tristan completed the Ultra Series Triple Crown of 200 mile races (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), along with Feral Pig 100 miler, for a total of 1154km raced and 40 points. 10th Place - Jen Millum (WA) - 39 points Finishing in 10th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Jen Millum . Jen finished 1st at all three of the Ultra Series Trilogy of 100 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), and was 2nd female with 35 laps at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. With a volunteer stint at the Yaberoo Trail Ultra, Jen finished the year with 39 points in the competition. To view the complete list of members who secured points in 2024 click here and then follow through to Points Summary under the 2024 tab. All winners have already been contacted, with cash prizes distributed for 1st - 7th places, and AUTRA Store vouchers sent for 8th, 9th & 10th.