sports psycologist

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Headcase

As a senior majoring in Sports Psychology the information

you gave is too little to identify the problem and help you.

Vipam

I've done a bit of sports counseling over the years. I make my living in the mental health business and Vipam's right. There's not enough information here to work with.

You could always try one session with a sports psychologist who would likely get more information from you, and then decide if it was worth doing again.

Let's cut to the chase, so to speak.

A - Either you have psychological problems unrelated to running that effect your running (i.e. depression, mental illness, etc., etc.)

or

B - You are the so called classic "Running head case." (please never repeat this phrase)

If we are talking about B, a mental head case, I have good news. You are not mental. And you are not a head case. And you should not refer to your running or yourself as mental.

The basics:

1 - Distance racing is, in essence, pain. You can improve your ability to push through pain by LEARNING or cognition.

2 - The human condition, that helps us survive and evolve, is the avoidance of pain. We are all born as big f'in wimps. We cry at the bright lights and the cold air. It's not good, it's not a nice comfy womb and we don't like it. And, we learn, as has our enduring ancestors, that avoiding painful situations (i.e. sticking hand in fire, avoiding jaws of saber tooth tigers) is good for us and our survival.

Enter Distance Racing. The opposite of our natural wiring. Even though we know that running hard and hurting probably poses no real danger to our life and limb, we still naturally resist. We must, through specific training, learn to push past this natural barrier.

Great runners are not born tough. They LEARN toughness through PRACTICE.

If you interject the same, or closely similar, painful race situations in your training, and push through it, you teach yourself (or body or neural system) how to do this most difficult task of any sport.

(They say hitting a pro pitched baseball takes the most skill of any professional sport, but, as 10s and 100s of guys do that weekly, I think running sub 3:30 or sub 13:00 takes much, much more real skill)

It's just not magic or genetic ability. It is the cognitive training for an exceptional skill.

It can be learned.

Well put Simmons. Wasn't it Salazar who said, "At the starting line, we're all cowards." And Shorter said something like, "The best way to run a marathon is to forget about the last one" --the pain (paraphrased). I haven't quite put my finger on the breakthroughs. I think we are psychologically made up to have breakthroughs but there isn't always a common thread to them, they aren't reproducible. They happen with persistence. I'm getting a little off the subject but my guess is that if head-case were having breakthroughs, he or she wouldn't feel mentally limited.

PS Nice subject spell-check catch

how many folks have caught a javelin?

I'm a psych major, debating on what I want to focus on for my graduate studies, since its obviously necessary to go on to grad school because a psych degree does nothing for you, but i've always wondered what exactly does a sport psychologist do? I've actually been interested in this for a while but never really researched it. Who has a good program for this? Thanks.

LSU, Univ of Houston, Univ of Texas, LSU-S, Rice (most of the universities in the South.

Vipam

there are some very good responses here. here's my dilemma, throughout high school i was always well liked and everything but never got to hang out because i didn't drink therefore i didn't go to parties. i never drank because i ran. i feel like maybe i've missed out on just being a regular person but at the same time feel that i've been blessed to have the experiences and the great friends i've made (by the way i don't think that any groups of guys are as close as a cross country team, especially my team, we did everything together). in a way i want to follow my dreams but nothing has gone like it was "supposed" to go for me for about a year now and it's really discouraging, i want to follow my dreams but then again i want to just stay out late, meet hot chicks, and have fun, i still don't drink because i don't like it, but that's beside the point. what would you suggest, i mean, i can't tell the coach, well i'm just gonna take some time off, that stuff don't fly.

hey! i don't think it's a sports psych. that you need. do you have an assistant coach who you can talk to? or what about a close teammate/frind? i think what's happening is that you're just kind of finding yourself. you're young and there are so many other fun things to do in this world! i think everyone goes though what you're going through at some point in their early 20's. the beauty of it is that you can cut back or even take time off and come back refreshed and ready to devote so much more to your running. college is not and should not be the end of your running career and dreams. but i do suggest finding a confidant to talk things over with, just so that you have someone who understands (that's why assistants are so great, they've already been though this usually) and can back you up.

hope that helps -- kk

well, the first problem is that you dont drink. if, the night before a race, you take in at least a six-pack (well, maybe less, for you) in addition to the obvious breaking of the 48 hour rule, you might just find yourself in an interesting situation with a mile to go.

sometimes, you just have to eat with the fork in your left hand, to truly appreciate food.

Headcase, you are in EXACTLY the same boat I was in during college. That's the problem with college - being a non-football/basketball jock can be lonely at times. It doesn't get you the instant popularity you got in high school. Plus, you have to work harder and sacrifice some social time to be ready to race.

What you're going through is normal. I believe we all run because the people around us admire what we do. The fix for you might not be to quit for a while, but to change your setting. Suggestions: get an apt. with a bunch of teammates; hang out at such an apt. if it already exists and you're stuck for the semester; get a bunch of teammates together and pledge a frat.; get a teammate for a roommate; spend some time each day at letsrun or mervs; talk to a counselor or clergy about what you're going through. Note that quitting running is not in the list. I tried it and it didn't help me any.

What you're going through is part of the difficulty students have in figuring out who they are, and where they fit in in society. Keep at it. Running is an awesome sport, and if you hang in there to your mid-20s, you can be really awesome.

Don't quit running. That will just screw everything up. I found that while I was running in college that my grades and general well being were better while running. When injured or in the off-season the lack of running made it more difficult to organize my schedule.

Also, if you want to hang out with hot chicks, that has more to do with personality then running. They are connected of course, but quiting running won't change your personality.