What techniques or things do you do (either physical or mental) that makes running seem effortless, easier, more tolerable, like you're gliding, flying, etc....
Only once did I feel like I was flying. And that was around mile 25 of my first marathon so the price to get that feeling is intense. And I have not experienced that feeling since that first marathon.
What are my tricks to having a better experience?
1. Start slow, even at races. Know yourself and how you feel that day. If that day isn't going the way you want, you might have a better experience if you accept what that day is and simply do what you are capable of. I have always experienced much better races when I start slow and let my body adjust instead of going for broke right from the start.
2. In training, I like having something to listen to, be it audiobooks, podcasts, or a family member to talk to in the rare occasions I'm not running alone. Keeps my mind focused on something else so it cannot complain about running. Recently, in Disney races I just soak up the experience and don't listen to anything. But this one can definitely change person to person.
A mental trick I use on long runs when I'm struggling, is to imagine where I will be when I'm at that mile in the race. This usually only works for me when I'm training for the WDW Marathon where I know the course really well.
3. I have used this strategy or a variation thereof many times for Disney races. I usually train after work so when I leave the office and don't want to go for a run because I'm tired after a long day of work, I tell myself that I'm actually at mile 10 of the half marathon or mile 22 or 23 of the marathon. And I can't quit then so I keep going. This has the added benefit on race day of reaching the actual mile 10 or 22 and I then tell myself "I've practiced these next 3-4 miles countless times over the past few months. I've done this many times before." It's a similar idea to reaching mile 20 of the marathon during Dopey and telling myself, "time for the 10K. I know how to do this because I did this two days ago."
4. Another one can be envisioning the medal and how I will feel once I've earned it. When training for Disney races, this also involves thinking about the assorted photos I'm going to take in the parks with my medal(s) after the race.
5. I always credit
@OldSlowGoofyGuy for this one. He taught me that when you start to feel fatigue, just trick your mind by focusing on just about anything else. "Oh that mile came quicker than I expected" or "mile x already?!?" regardless of the number of minutes it took you to run that mile or those miles.
During this year's marathon, I felt like some of the final miles after mile 20 were going on forever and ever. At one point, I pulled my phone out and started playing my college fight song. Lifted my spirits and I kept going.
2016 U.S. Olympic Marathoner Jared Ward once shared that your body is ready to quit first, but your mind is more powerful than your body, so you want to learn to train your mind to endure longer. So long as the brain is telling the body that it's in charge here, the body will follow suit. He shared instances of many elite runners going much longer in incredibly difficult conditions simply because their brains were telling their body to keep going. Likewise, as Jared shared, once the mind decides that you're finished, the body will immediately follow suit. Once the mind has given up, it's extremely difficult if not possible to "come back" from that.
