The psychological indicators of success in ultrarunning. 

One quote I love from baseball legend Yogi Berra could apply perfectly to ultrarunning: “Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.”

Getting ready for an ultra is about more than just optimizing physical endurance. You can be incredibly fit, but it doesn’t matter how many miles you’ve logged in training if your mental game isn’t dialed. Athletes are more than just lungs and legs; making sure athletes optimize their psychology is an important component of racing. 

A fascinating paper, The Psychological Indicators of Success in Ultrarunning, published in March 2023, explores what psychological traits are most highly correlated with ultrarunning success (defined as finishing an ultra in the allotted time). 

So, what mental traits distinguish successful ultrarunners from competitors with similar physical traits and training? Let’s break down the research. 

Primary Physiological Indicators of Ultrarunning Success

• Perseverance- actions taken in response to encountering difficulty, including mental toughness and self-efficacy (your belief in your ability to do something challenging). 

• Takeaway: Increasing perseverance through high levels of self-efficacy, mental toughness, and the ability to ask for help correlated with racing success.To build self efficacy, athletes can practice doing difficult things in training (par for the course) and reflect on how they’ve overcome obstacles. 

• Motivation – This relates to how and why athletes run races. The study used eight elements to break down motivation, including: health, weight, goal achievement, recognition, coping, life meaning, self-esteem, and social connection.

• Takeaway: The study showed that athletes motivated by goal achievement, health, life meaning, and social connection were more successful in ultramarathons. Athletes motivated by weight loss were the least successful, and there were interesting differences in gender and motivation. Men were more likely to be motivated by goal achievement and recognition, while women were more likely to be motivated by life meaning, self-esteem, and social connection. What’s most important is that your motivations are authentic to YOU!

• Psychopathology – Abnormal behaviors, including exercise addiction (EA) and eating disorders. 
  • Takeaway: Obviously, we want to treat any underlying and harmful mental health conditions like exercise dependency or eating disorders. It’s important to note that these conditions were also NEGATIVELY CORRELATED with ultramarathon success. Treating and preventing exercise addition and eating disorders is thought to aid in ultramarathon success. While many athletes who are struggling with EA or EDs incorrectly think that these conditions might give them an “edge,” this study shows that they are hurtful to athletic performance. Coaches and athletes should ensure that athletes who struggle with these conditions are properly referred to an expert care team. 
• Emotional Intelligence – EI refers to how people perceive, process, regulate and utilize emotional information. Studies in this review look at how EI affected athletes’ responses over the course of ultramarathons. 
  • Takeaway: Despite some cultural beliefs about what toughness is, this study shows that Emotional Intelligence is integral to ultramarathon success. Take that, Goggins! People with high EI understand that emotions convey information, which may or may not be useful. They can accentuate emotional responses that are helpful in certain situations and redirect in other situations. 
• Mood Variability – the frequency of emotional change, ranging from seconds to weeks. Researchers look at feelings of anger, confusion, depression, fatigue, tension and vigor.
  • Takeaway: Reducing mood variability (through mindfulness and other modalities) was positively correlated with ultramarathon success—work on keeping an even keel in the face of adversity. Greater mood variability increases emotional regulation costs, leading to more mental fatigue. 

So, what should you do with all this information?

Do you need to add an intensive psychological regimen to your already busy training schedule?

The authors of this study say no!

Researchers recommend that athletes should examine their own strengths and weaknesses. Most likely, you’re already great at least a few of these tools, but the research was murky on how much over-emphasizing any one tool would lead to performance gains. Instead, athletes should identify and address their individual weaknesses. If you struggle with emotional regulation, take some time to explore that with your coach or other trusted professional. If you are already highly motivated and resilient, there isn’t enough evidence to suggest doubling down on those areas will lead to better performance. Good training should encompass mental and physical work, but more research is needed to support really hammering any one tool in the mental toolset above. 

The exception to this is exercise dependency and eating disorders, where the research shows that addressing this head-on is critical to ultramarathon success. 

The bottom line: all of this stuff is trainable. Make sure you prioritize mental health, address any underlying mental health concerns with a trusted team of professionals, and take some time to reflect on your areas of strength and weakness. Remember, your brain is a body part. Let’s treat it like one. 

Coach Zoë Rom and the Microcosm Team