Many experienced runners and walkers know that completing a marathon or half marathon is as mental as it is physical. If you’ve heard of visualization and wanted to use it to help you on your next run, keep reading!

A best practice approach to visualization includes these features:

• Imagine the end result.
• Include details.
• Include emotion.
• See yourself.
• Use relaxing music or a quiet space.
• Spend just five minutes per viewing session.
• View only once a day.

So applying this best practice approach to visualizing a successful marathon or half marathon means the following.

Imagine the end result.

Focus your visualization on the finish line and the completion time. Of course, the finish time you visualize should be reasonably related to the best paces you’ve experienced during your training sessions. So don’t envision a run duration that is much shorter than most trainers would tell you is possible for you at this stage of your training. But don’t visualize a race duration that would be unreasonably long for you either; In other words, don’t let yourself down!

You should either drive the race track or watch an overhead or street level video to familiarize yourself with its twists and turns, where the various mile markers will be, and the hills and valleys.

But don’t worry about viewing your individual training sessions or individual mile markers along the race course. The finish line is THE most important aspect of your race to visualize. Because? Because your unconscious mind will use this vision to figure out the HOW’s you need for your training and on race day. All you have to do is feed it the final WHAT – you’re crossing the finish line with your desired finish time.

Include details.

What do you hear when you cross the finish line? Is a band playing? Is the announcer calling your name and hometown? Do your friends and family yell your name, ring bells, honk their horns, and wave signs? Do strangers cheer you up? Do the cops hold the spectators? Is the sun shining on your face or back, or is it a cloudy day? Is it a cold day or a hot day? Where is the finish time clock, above the finish line or to the side? What color is the finish line timing mat? Are there different finish ramps for the marathon and the half marathon? Do the runners around you run to the finish? What are you doing as you head towards the finish line and cross it?

Write down the answers to all of these questions, as well as many other questions you might ask, and review those answers just before you close your eyes to start your visualization session. Or gently record yourself asking all the questions and then play that recording back to guide you through each session.

And don’t worry if the details you’re visualizing will exactly match reality. For example, the color of the finish line mat could differ between your visualizations and reality. What matters is that you visualize the details that make sense to you, so that your unconscious mind fully “gets” that you want this success.

Include emotion.

Here is a key question for you: What are your most vivid memories? The answer: they are the ones with the strongest emotions attached to them.

That’s why it’s crucial that you include emotion in your visualization sessions. How big is your smile when you see the final photographers in the field? How do you feel when the finish line area comes into view or you approach the louder crowds at the finish area? How do you feel going into the final ramp, either alone or with other runners? How do you feel when you cross the finish line? How do you feel when someone hands you your medal? How do you feel when the volunteers greet you after the race?

Imbue your visualizations with emotions, and your unconscious mind will connect more deeply with your desires.

See yourself.

A common mistake many people make when visualizing is NOT including themselves in their images.

One solution is to use a first-person perspective, as if you were looking through your own eyes at your own body, clothing, and gear on race day. For example, you should visualize your own watch or GPS unit on your own wrist with your own hand attached (even sweat, freckles, wrinkles, and scars) and your other hand reaching out to press the stop button. as you cross the finish line.

Another solution is to adopt a third-person perspective, as if you were another person looking at you. For example, you can look at your own face and how happy you are as you enter the finish ramp and cross the finish line.

A third solution puts you in front of one or more mirrors on your screen and allows you to get both perspectives. You can see your own body through your own eyes (the first-person perspective), and you can see your entire body as if you were another person (the third-person perspective). For example, and although it may seem strange in practice, you can imagine yourself running through a full-size mirror along the side lines of the arrival ramp and see yourself approaching another full-size mirror a safe distance beyond. the finish line mat. .

The best approach to seeing yourself in your visualizations is to use these three solutions.

Use relaxing music or a quiet space.

Some people find that soft music can help them relax into their viewing session. Others find that they should not have sounds when they are visualizing. Find what works for you and keep using it.

Spend just five minutes per viewing session.

This advice contradicts a popular misconception: that you have to spend thirty minutes to an hour visualizing to gain any benefit. But what many visualization professionals eventually discover is that they can’t stay focused for more than five minutes per session. So most of that half hour or hour is wasted.

And here are two more benefits of limiting your visualization session to five minutes: (1) you’re more likely to start this daily practice; (2) You’re more likely to make this a daily habit, because you know it’s not taking time away from your other training for your race.

View only once a day.

This is another piece of advice that contradicts a popular misconception: that you should visualize several times a day… or that “if some is good, then more is better.” – which is NOT in this case.

There are two key reasons why you should plan to visualize a successful run just once a day. One is that it becomes less of an obstacle to developing the habit. But the biggest one is that visualizing multiple times a day can actually backfire, because you start comparing the perfection of your visualizations to the imperfections of your everyday life. And those comparisons can lead to a conscious focus on HOW you will achieve your visualizations, the HOW’s, which can lead to feelings of overload and despair.

One more thing: start visualizing today!

There really is no better time than the present to start envisioning a successful career. Of course, the more days you can visualize before your next race, the better. But, even if your marathon or half marathon is next weekend and you haven’t visualized throughout your training season, you can still benefit from visualizing in the last few days before the race and right before the race on the race morning. So start today.

Best wishes — and viewings! — for a successful career!