Sports involve more than just physical performance. According to the National Library of Medicine, mental challenges are a whole level of sports that usually get overlooked. In a survey done by Dr. Paul McCarthy, even when an athlete feels physically well, mental fatigue can cut endurance performance by 15%. On the Archer upper school varsity track and field team, athletes are mentally prepared and train their mindsets, according to varsity track and field coach Phil Smith.
Saige Queensborough (‘29) is a short-distance runner on the team. She has been doing track as a hobby since third grade but just recently took it up as her main activity. Queenborough said mental struggles are often self-inflicted.
“Comparing yourself to other people and psyching yourself out,” Queensborough said. “It’s not other people that are pressuring you. It’s yourself, your own pressure, because track is more of an individual sport.”
Another short-distance runner, Sophie Cousens (‘27), has been doing track for three years. She said physical training helps to a certain extent, but that mental strength ultimately determines an athlete’s performance.
“It’s all about the discipline because, truly, you can do anything for a certain amount of time,” Cousens said. “Training will help you be faster and things like that. But it’s about in your brain, allowing your body to reach that momentum and just believing in yourself.”
Smith said this phenomenon of self-limitation is linked to an increase in lactic acid in the body while exercising. Lactic acid is a fuel created from broken-down glucose and carbohydrates to energise your body while exercising, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Smith said lactic acid blocks the brain from pushing harder. One way he offered to combat this is to consistently maintain a positive mindset.
“Physically, the runner who has a negative mindset is defeated before they even start,” Smith said. “So, you have to have a positive mindset. You have to visualize success … you have to push yourself. It’s the mental challenge.”
One way athletes can do this, Smith said, is by making meet day the “easy” day. Smith said that by working harder on practice days, competitions begin to feel simpler and less stressful.
“I like to rely on muscle memory,” Smith said. “Let’s say a person’s going to run a 400. Well, in practice, we’ll run three 400s in a day, and, so, the positive aspect, I would say, is you only have one today instead of four. That’s easy.”
Before a race, each player has their own ways to calm down and get in the right headspace before a match. Some stay with the team while others, like Queensborough, have their own rituals.
“I do warm up with my team, but I would say after warm up, I go into my own corner and think about myself. I don’t stay with the team because my brain needs to process,” Queensborough said. “I pray, and then, after that, I say mantras to myself like, ‘You’ve got this. It’s not going to be that hard.’”
During a race, what a runner is thinking about is key. While it is still important to focus on form and make sure that breathing is regular, a mindset before a race can sometimes dictate the outcome, Smith said.
“I do better when I don’t think about it that much. Sometimes I think about it too much, and I stress myself over, saying, ‘You’re not going to win,’” Queensborough said. “I sometimes look at other people’s times in my heats prior to the meet … I’m like, ‘Okay, I definitely place around here.’ I think I need to stop doing that because it’s psyching myself out, basically limiting myself.”
While each runner has their own reason for doing track, some for exercise and some for enjoyment, Cousens said it is always important to have a strong mindset as track can become a tool to ease one’s mind.
“There is a minute when it just goes quiet. You’re really not thinking of anything, and you’re just trying to get to the other side of the track — it’s animalistic,” Cousens said. “That’s why I do track.”
