The Concept of Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is the psychological theory that states that people are more likely to engage in actions that they truly believe that they can achieve, and avoid actions in which they feel they will be unsuccessful. But how does a runner come to “believe” that he or she can achieve a goal. According to a recent article by Human Kinetics, there are four different sources of self-efficacy: (1) past performance accomplishments, (2) verbal persuasion, (3) vicarious experience/modeling, and (4) physical/emotional states.

Past Performance Accomplishments

Perhaps the most important source of confidence in achieving a goal is past performances. Reflecting on great races or workouts allows a runner to form judgments about how attainable goals are. For example, if a runner ran a 4:20 mile a month ago, running a 4:15 mile in a month with good training is certainly possible.

Verbal Persuasion

When building confidence for a goal, runners should care about what they hear. Receiving encouragement from families, friends, and coaches can affect a runner’s confidence. Also, runners should engage in positive self-talk to reinforce their ability to achieve their running resolutions. It is amazing that the impact words have on a person’s assessment of themselves.

Vicarious Experience/Modeling

Another way that runners can come to believe that they will achieve their goals is to model themselves on other runners. For example, if your training partner has run a 3 hour marathon, you can obtain a great deal of confidence by modeling your training on your partner’s training program. If it worked for him, why can’t it work for you?

Physical/Emotional States

A runner’s belief about whether he or she can achieve a goal is heavily influenced by how they feel during training runs. For example, if a runner feels tired running 400 meters at 70 second pace, it is unlikely that he or she will believe that a 4:40 mile is possible. Additionally, a person’s emotions can influence self-confidence. If a runner is constantly feeling down or depressed, it is unlikely that he or she will have the will to achieve goals.

Conclusion

Running resolutions are a great way to motivate yourself to achieve running goals. However, it is important to set realistic goals that you believe that you can achieve. To set believable goals, reflect on past performances, verbal encouragement from others and yourself, the performances of your peers, and your physical and emotional states.

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Running is not a sport of immediate satisfaction. It takes months and years to develop aerobic capacity and other energy systems of the body. Small adaptations in the body from each run and workout eventually will create an exceptional runner, but it takes time.

To illustrate just how long it takes to transform the body into an efficient running machine, consider a 2010 study from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. This study tracked the physiological changes in the bodies of eight male collegiate distance runners over the course of an 8-10 week cross county season.

The authors first performed baseline testing of the runner’s aerobic and anaerobic systems, including VO2max, running economy, and blood lactate accumulation. The runners then trained and competed in an intense collegiate cross country season in which they ran at least 50 miles per week.

When the study’s authors re-tested the runners at the end of the season, they found no change in the results of the runners’ anaerobic and aerobic tests. That’s right – all of the hard training during the season had no discernable affect on the runners’ physiological systems.

This surprising study can be explained partly on the fact that the runners had already developed a mileage base in the summer before the season began. However, the workouts were much more intense during their season, and it is striking that those workouts appear to have had little or no effect on the physiology of the runners.

The lesson here is that it takes a long time to reach your running goals. Runners who believe that a month or two of training is enough for them to race fast will be sorely mistaken. Running is a sport that rewards patience.

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Intrinsic Motivation

According to psychological research, the best runners are those that are intrinsically motivated to train and race. “Intrinsic motivation” means to run solely for the pleasure of running and not for external rewards or praise. An intrinsically motivated runner does not measure running success with beating other runners, but whether running provides them with personal enjoyment and satisfaction.

Task v. Ego Orientation

In developing an intrinsic motivation for running, it is important to understand the difference between task orientation and ego orientation. A runner who is “task orientated” appreciates the process of learning about running. A bad race will not have a huge negative affect on a task orientated runner because he or she understands that bad races are part of the overall improvement process.

On the other hand, an “ego orientated” runner judges running success solely by comparing himself or herself against other runners. Ego orientated runners feel tremendous stress and nervousness before races because they will regard their entire running endeavor as a failure if they don’t win or beat other runners they feel they should beat. This kind of “win or else” attitude is very destructive to a runner’s image or his or herself and certainly does not lead to “intrinsic motivation” for running.

The Best Running Attitude

The most successful runners have a running attitude that mixes ego orientation and task orientation. These runners want to compete and beat other runners, but they also understand the danger of finding enjoyment only in winning a race. Although winning races is a goal, these runners are not solely motivated by external forces; rather, they understand that the best way to achieve the goal of winning is to view running as a learning process. Therefore, while they have a burning desire to obtain medals and win races, they also have a sincere appreciation for their individual improvement independent of their victories over other runners. The competitive drive is balanced with a long-term, sustainable outlook for running.

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Perfectionism

The general consensus is that the more perfectionist a person is, the more likely he or she will suffer burnout from an activity. Although demanding perfection can propel a runner to fast times quickly, the win at all costs attitude can also lead to over training, injuries, and a general lack of satisfaction with running. Perfectionists never seem to be happy with any race, no matter the time. Therefore, they never take any joy out of running and soon lose interest.

Running for Others

Another trait of burned-out runners is that they often run to please others. These runners are desperate to appear perfect for people around them and believes that their coaches, family, and friends expect nothing but perfection. The fear of letting down a coach or family member becomes overwhelming and causes running to be a stressful and dreary activity. Running only for others is such a dangerous attitude because it is not possible to win every race and impress every person. A runner who runs only to please other people will invariably fail and likely stop running because of the disappointment.

Running for Awards

Many runners love to brag about their high placings and awards. Some runners will only race in small local races because they know they can place high. However, focusing primarily on rewards as the reason for running will often lead to burnout. Instead of being so obsessed about winning a medal or award, runners will gain much more enjoyment by simply enjoying the feeling of racing.

The most effective motivational tool is the attitude of running solely to push our bodies and enjoying the feeling of health that running provides. With this attitude, awards and accolades becomes mere side effects of the more important to desire to run for personal enjoyment, health, and fun.

Conclusion

I urge you to take note of the following advice if you want to keep your motivation to run: (1) Train hard, but don’t be a perfectionist. Understand that no one is perfect and refrain from punishing yourself over a bad race. Instead, use it as a learning experience, (2) Run for your own personal enjoyment and not only to please others, and (3) Do not focus so much on awards and placing high in races. Rather, focus on the good feeling you get from running and the chance that running gives you to to push yourself and discover your potential. By utilizing these tips, you’ll be surprised how much easier running becomes.

Photo courtesy of tableatny

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