There has been an interesting study done by John Hall, a Ph.D. candidate at Staffordshire University, and he says mental toughness is 14% of running according to Runner's Worlds summary of the study:http://www.runnersworld.com/sports-psychology/how-much-does-mental-toughness-affect-race-times
Runnersworld wrote:
For the study, Hall used a previously established tool to measure three components of mental toughness: confidence (self-belief), the sense of being in control, and constancy (concentration, determination, acceptance of responsibility, and stability of attitudes). Perceived effort, discomfort levels, use of mental skills and hardiness were also measured. Mental skills are actions like goal setting and refocusing. Hardiness is a personality trait tested in previous research.
Hall found that mental toughness greatly influenced subjects' finishing times, and that among the variables influencing performance (fitness, weather, and nutrition), mental toughness accounted for 14%.
Any scientists out there that can read the actual study in its entirety and tell us if what you think about it.
Is it legit or not. It says it accounts for "fitness" but how so? A big part of confidence would obviously be fitness. If training is going great, of course you are going to be confident and then you run well and it looks like you ran great because you were mentally tough but in reality you were just really fit and knew it.
How do you account for all of that???