Mental Fatigue

I’m starting to realize more and more how much of a role mental fatigue plays in whether I have a great workout or just a so-so workout. This seems obvious and you’d think I would have noticed it already but it wasn’t until this week that I really tuned in to how my body was feeling in my various activities and how that related to my mindframe on that particular day. It started when I was riding the bike at the gym on Thursday and thinking to myself “man, my long run is only 2 days away, I don’t know if I have the energy for this!” By the time Sunday rolled around though I was in a much better frame of mind and was ready to take on the run, and what a great run it was! Afterwards I was tired, drained and ready to pack it in…at that moment if you asked me if I was ready to do it again in another week the answer would have been a resounding NO. No way am i doing this again. But give me a few days for the memory of the fatigue to fade, to get over the blisters and low points and I’m good to go, ready to take on the challenge. It’s not a physical tiredness at that point, it’s mental. It’s summoning the mental strength to go out and keep training. To push harder to improve the time or the distance (but never both at the same time) and to just do it. Some days that mental strength is stronger than others.

I had another experience with mental fatigue and it’s impact on my ability to perform last night. Last night I was tired. Part of that was physical – I hadn’t slept well the night before – and that compounded into me just not having the mental strength to push myself that hard. I went to the gym and had a so-so workout (which in the end turned out to be a good thing because I switched up my normal routine to compensate and switching things up now and then is always a good idea). After the gym I headed out to the climbing gym for a climb…that is where being tired REALLY showed through. I was able to do some great routes – even ALMOST finishing a 5.10c (to date my best climb has been a 10b) but I was finding that I just didn’t have the mental strength to really push myself on the wall. To will myself to take it out of my comfort zone and go for it, rather than admitting defeat. So I wonder, had I been better rested would I have finished that route? Probably.

I’m not 100% sure where I’m going with this post, in terms of what it means for me, I’m still trying to figure that out. Do you build mental strength by pushing through those “I don’t want to do this today” and making it happen anyway? Or modifying a bit so that you still get something done, even if it wasn’t exactly what you intended to do when you set out? Do you sit back and take a day off when those feelings hit and then go back stronger the next day? I suspect it’s a combination of all of these factors. Sometimes you push through and feel better as a result, sometimes the fatigue is a sign that it’s time for a break and you should listen to that. It’s something I’m still working on, and it’s an interesting part of this journey to be “fit”. I’ll keep you posted as I figure it out.