In a special effort to acknowledge the grueling nature of the Tour de France – this qualitative research on the experience of “suffering” in cycling will open your eyes.

Editor’s note: The vast majority of literature in sport psychology involves quantitative research methods. These help in understanding trends and the prevalence of applied methods or conditioning skills, however, they are sometimes written in a way that feels remarkably alien to our actual experience of the techniques as applied. For an “up-close and personal” understanding of applied methods, there is no better tool than that used in qualitative research. This article, by UK Psychologist Phil Moore, puts forward this methodology so that we not only grasp the experience of “suffering” involved in cycling, we get a better sense of how individuals gravitate toward certain coping strategies. As focused as this study was on cycling, many of us will realize benefits in other endurance sports. Podium Sports Journal is pleased to present this research, not just because it is inherently relevant to our mission, but because Mr. Moore does an excellent job illustrating the difference between research and loose journalism which often plays fast and loose with concepts that are barely defined, much less understood.

by Phillip S. Moore – University of Exeter – England

Performance and Pain

Any cyclist will know that whilst cycling can be very enjoyable, at the same time it can also be very painful. On an extreme level let’s imagine for a moment the pain caused from a hip injury severe enough to require an immediate hip replacement. Let us then imagine how this must feel coupled with riding up to 260k a day, for three weeks over terrain up to 2600 metres. Finally, let’s imagine how painful it must be to not only cope with this pain and complete this epic task, but to beat a field of over 200 elite competitors. Floyd Landis’ achievement in this year’s Tour de France is inspiration for any keen cyclist, but it poses several important questions regarding the psychological experience of pain and its relationship to performance. How do elite cyclists like Floyd Landis experience pain and how do they best cope with it?

Social Science in Sport

Traditionally, attempts at improving athletes’ performance based on physiological factors such as training methods, diet and recovery have received the most attention from coaches. However, the burgeoning of sport psychology as a discipline, and even more recently as a profession, reflects the increasing credence modern athletes and coaches give to psychological influences upon improved performance. The experience of pain as a research topic has received marginal attention within the literature to date (see Hogg and Hayden (1997) for an exploration of runners’ experiences of pain). One reason for this is that the youthful status of sport psychology as a discipline, tends to shun the often overlooked or disregarded value of qualitative research methods. Pain is undoubtedly a qualitative experience, and one that cannot be easily quantified nor reduced to digits. It is unfortunate (yet predictable) that the discipline of sport psychology has fallen into the misguided pursuit of truth rather than value; however, this short paper offers some value in exploring the subjective experience of pain for elite cyclists. It is a brief synopsis of the findings of an original qualitative research project entitled: Perceptions of pain in competitive cyclists (Moore & Rock, 2001). The research involved interviews with four elite British cyclists, using semi-structured questions to elicit information. The information was interpreted using a phenomenological approach, respecting the individuality of what people said. Any psychological model was applied after the information was gathered, and so the design was emergent in essence.

Exertion Pain

Firstly it is important to distinguish between injury pain and exertion pain. Exertion pain is typically perceived as acute, short in duration, produced voluntarily, under the control of the athlete, and capable of being reduced at will. Exertion pain can consequently provoke positive emotions, feelings of satisfaction, improved performance, high self-efficacy, and a heightened sense of well-being. It can, therefore, facilitate athletes’ efforts by reinforcing them to aspire to higher intensities in training or competition.

Injury Pain

Although rare individuals like Landis (and his collapsing hip) seem to dispel what we know about injury pain; it is commonly experienced as chronic, long lasting, uncontrollable, a risk to physical well-being and motivation for athletes to protect the injured area. Typically, an athlete will respond with a loss in self-confidence and motivation, increased anxiety and/or depression, and feelings of fear. Injury pain is thus seen as a negative and discouraging (Heil, 1993). Taylor (1997) has developed these distinctions further, in suggesting that each type of pain, has significant effects upon how an athlete perceives pain (positively or negatively), evaluates pain (benign or harmful) and responds to pain (continued effort or protection). Hogg and Hayden (1997) indicated that when competitive runners correctly identify exertion pain, it has many positive emotional outcomes, including motivation, happiness, and satisfaction.

Habituation

So our experience of pain is not sensation per se, but a product of how we perceive it. Tajet-Foxell and Rose (1995) have suggested that repeated exposure to painful stimuli may reduce pain response in some individuals (process of habituation). In their study of ballet dancers they discussed how high pain thresholds were not only a result of habituation to high physical training and fitness levels, but were also contingent upon changes in cognitive responses over time. It seems that seasoned athletes use different ways of thinking and processing pain information. Researchers such as Morgan (1985) have highlighted the principles of adaptation in pain tolerance and perception, whilst others have agreed that an athlete’s unique training regime may affect an athlete’s ability to cope with pain (Egan, 1987).

Reward and Punishment: Pain and its Meaning

To make sense of the world around them humans tend to construct themes, make links and group information together. Our experience of pain is not immune to this; and this is how we learn to avoid or to repeat behaviour. In basic behavioural terms, if something we do benefits us we are likely to do it again. In more detailed terms: an athlete’s emotional response to pain is largely a product of experience, context, environment and individual difference. According to Hogg and Hayden (1997) an individual’s exposure to pain will imbue meaning for the individual. An athlete’s drive and the tendency to persist with certain behaviours, is in part, determined by an expectation of an outcome. For example, if Landis’ efforts at the Tour de France result in success, he is more likely to interpret the pain as a means to a successful end, and is likely to repeat his efforts. An athlete, whose experiences of pain are coupled with defeat or relative failure may be at risk of associating emotions of fear. According to Heil (1993) an athlete’s ability to tolerate pain depends on the likelihood of positive outcomes, such as good performances or results. Furthermore, Heil (1993) describes strong goals; a predominant perceptual focus on sport related cues (over pain), and a survival context as important factors in an athlete’s ability to tolerate pain.

Coping Strategies

Athletes use a variety of these coping techniques and cognitive strategies, and several sport specific studies have discussed them (Hogg & Hayden, 1997; Taylor & Taylor, 1998). Pain reduction techniques include deep breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, meditation, and therapeutic massage. Pain focus techniques on the other hand are concerned with external focus techniques, soothing imagery exercises, neutral imaginings, rhythmic cognitive activity, pain acknowledgement, dramatic coping, and situational assessment (see Heil (1993), Miller & Maas-Hill (1999), Vealey & Walter (1993) and Walker (1971) for a discussion of these styles and techniques).

Summary of Findings

What follows are extracts from the interview transcripts of four elite British cyclists, and comments from the researchers’ interpretation of the data. Participant quotes are indented and are coded with a letter to denote which participant made which comment.

Physical Descriptions of Exertion and Injury-related Pain

The most common physical pains experienced by the cyclists interviewed, were pain in the legs and lungs. Injury pain was described very differently from exertion pain. Injury pain was often likened to somebody sticking a needle or cigarette into the body.
“When you are really exerting yourself it is like an ache, a burning sensation, but if you get pain from an injury in your knee or ankle, it’s more of a real sharp pain… like someone’s sticking a needle inside. – (C)

Negative Emotional Effects of Injury-related Pain

Not only were the descriptions of injury-related pain different from exertion pain, but so too were the emotions associated with injury pain. Emotional responses to injury-related pain included increased anxiety, depression, fear and feelings of having been cheated, resulting in loss of confidence and motivation.
“Injury pain is depressive, bringing me back down to Earth, making me feel more mortal, as I don’t feel mortal when I am doing well, you feel robbed, cheated.”(D)
Feelings of helplessness and defeat linked with injury pain were associated with lack of control over the pain, which contrasted with the voluntary nature of exertion pain, and the fact that it could be reduced at will. The controllability of exertion pain was an important factor affecting the experience of its intensity.

Positive Responses to Exertion Pain

The predominant emotions associated with exertion pain were very different. Exertion pain was described in more positive ways than injury-related pain. Participants described exertion pain as a common source of satisfaction and inspiration, creating positive thoughts and emotions that facilitated performance and well being.
“Well you don’t enjoy the pain, you enjoy the feeling of going flat out and not caring. And you almost want it to hurt more when you go faster, just because you feel so ace (good).” – (A)
The sensation of exertion pain was never described as pleasant, in fact the sensation was unpleasant and stressful. The effects of exertion pain, on the other hand, were regularly perceived in positive ways. Exertion pain created positive meanings for the participants who related exertion pain with increased fitness, form, and success.
“My thoughts about pushing myself are pleasurable ones, knowing that I have done something that’s going to be good later on.” – (B)
The controllable nature of exertion pain presented an opportunity for participants to mediate other cyclists’ experiences of pain, particularly in competitive situations.
“When you are in a break away and you are feeling really strong, then you are making other people suffer.” – (B)
Not only does the knowledge of others’ pain facilitate the participants’ ability to control their own pain, but in some ways, it can actually alter the perception of pain experienced. Feelings of high motivation, euphoria and superiority were often reported at times of intense exertion and competition. The pleasurable effects of pain may become desirable rewards that may have a reinforcing effect upon training and competition.
“I enjoy seeing other people suffer, that’s why I do it, to get that superiority over others. I don’t know why I like that, it’s pathetic really. But being better and more superior gives me that drive. Sticking with riders until they break down is like driving it in a bit. To see them suffer a bit more, the more I will hammer it.” – (D)
Pain to some of the participants took on tangible qualities, and became an entity that could be used as a weapon on others. Participants not only acknowledged the ways in which others’ experiences of pain could be manipulated through tactical riding, but they also actually envisioned the physical infliction of pain onto others.
“…on top you know you can dish more (pain) out if you want to.” – (A)
Participant “D” used other cyclists’ signs of pain to inform his own tactics and to positively re-frame his own perception of pain.
“The earlier I see others struggle, earlier than I do, allows me to shut out the pain…..and when they show it (their experience of pain), I think that”s it! He has broken. I can then make my attack and go.” – (D)

Coping Strategies

When exertion pain was encountered, participants used coping strategies, which they felt were most effective. The coping strategies they used were predominantly self-discovered, and thus, were on the whole, not the product of any formal mental skills training. The four participants each used various techniques that can be grouped into three types: rhythmic behaviour, distraction, and establishing an end.

Only participant “A” had formal mental skills training following consultation with a sports psychologist. He believed the strategies were effective, and that formal skills training was vitally important for elite development in cycling. “A” used “power” words, and imagery to focus his concentration, distracting himself from the pain.
“I focus and block it out, I say power words. Words that take your mind of it and that you can associate with the things that make you ride better….Like strength, smooth, speed, you’re thinkin’ to yourself you’re a good climber, you’re visualizing how you should be doing, how you would like to be doing it.” – (A)
“A” used imagery by visualizing he was a tiger to provoke arousal, and to provide a distraction from the pain.
“When you’re battering everyone, it’s easier to believe you’re a tiger.” (A)

“B” on the other hand, perceived pain in predominantly physical terms, and so used mainly physical aids to relaxation and performance. “B” did not value the mental importance of success in cycling so highly as “A”. He was asked if he had ever sought mental skills training. He said “no”, and instead emphasized the use of physical techniques that he had learned from reading books.
“Well, stretching to start with. From a training point of view… after training to warm-down, sort of thing. And then go into stretching.” – (B)
He had not sought formal mental skills training, mainly because, he felt that coping with pain was an ontogenetic process that evolved from individual trial and error. When asked if he thought mental strategies were useful, he replied:
“No, not really. It’s time if anything. Remember you have to do the training. And people have their own methods, watching T.V. or reading a book.” – (B)
However, during a follow-up telephone interview “B” stated that he was not sure if his coping strategies had developed from cycling in particular, or as part of general life experiences. Participant “B” did stress a personalized quality to the pain coping process, and he was certain that individuals have their own techniques to cope with the pain. He used sub-vocalization to distract himself from the stress of exertion pain.
“I sing actually. To take my mind of it.” – (B)
“C” also perceived his coping strategies as an outcome of his individual experiences within cycling and with pain and he suggested that techniques that he had learned through studying sport psychology were already a part of his daily cycling rituals.
“…there was a lot that I learned that I was actually doing…When I did this course it told me what I was already doing, but guided me a bit more.” – (C)
“C” regularly found it useful to focus on the end of a task, or would alternatively sub-divide the task, and therefore create more ends.”
“If it happens on a hill I have a look and think, it’s only another ten or fifteen seconds to the top. That’s nothing.” – (C)
“C” would come to terms with the reality of the pain to be experienced, and interpret his estimate of pain as a challenge to overcome, and find achievement from closure of each task.
“It ain’t gonna last for ever, that’s what you have to get into your head, I will be home soon.” – (C)
“C” used aggression to cope with exertion pain on occasions. Increasing arousal through psyching up, and becoming aggressive enabled him to distract himself from exertion pain. By perceiving the aversive properties of exertion pain as the enemy, he managed to channel his energies into performance.
“People came to me at the end of the race and said: how did you do that last lap so quick? I don’t know I just got fired up because of the delay at the crossing. All that aggression… a bit of the aggression came out on the stewards, but the rest came out on the bike.” – (C)
In direct contrast to “B”, “C” would use music not to lower his arousal, but rather to increase it.
“I like training with a walk-man on, I try and get them going round to the beat. If you have the music on it can make you feel: I wanna do this. It psyches you up and gets you going. Its like going to a disco or night club, if some real good music comes on you go and have a dance to it, that buzz you get from the music can help your training.” – (C)
“C” likened the phenomenon to a separation of mind from body. To him, coping techniques seemed to be second nature. He suggested that different situations required different coping strategies. For example, in circumstances where exertion was high, he would use less demanding cognitive rituals such as counting. In longer, less intense situations he would have the resource to use higher cognitive activities, such as rehearsing favorite songs.
“I will probably use the counting one more than anything, for intense oxygen debt pain, for long endurance pain it’s slightly different, you think of things like music. When you think of the tunes you can shut everything out, pounding the gears in beat with what you are doing in your mind, I try and dispatch my mind from my body… usually I don’t notice doing them.” – (C)
Similarly to “C”, participant “D” used counting as a technique. “D” would co-ordinate his breathing with his pedal strokes, and count each stroke.
“Count the breaths, ’cause for one it keeps your concentration up, and then you can co-ordinate the breathing with your pedal strokes. I will get 3 quarters up the hill and won’t have thought about the pain, because of the counting.” – (D)
Like “A”, “D” rated mental aspects of performance very highly, yet he avoided formal mental skills training. “D” valued his skills of coping with pain as a product of general life experience, such as those gained from spending time in the army.
“…it all came about when I joined the army, suddenly I was mixing with men. Blokes (men) that were smoking and drinking, with big beer bellies, I was 18 or 19 and in my prime of fitness supposedly, but I couldn’t keep with them, nowhere near them in fact.” – (D)
Similarly, “A” also rated the importance of discipline in increasing pain tolerance.
“I think that it’s about attitude – The more professional you are about things, I think the more tolerant you are to pain. At the end of the day it comes down to who wants it most.” – (A)
Interestingly, D’s interpretation of pain included abstinence from indulgent activities, such as socializing with friends, eating fatty foods, drinking alcohol, and spending time with his partner. He valued the experience of exertion pain, and all his other “pains” in life, because for him these “pains” helped him increase his tolerance to pain, and fine tune the ways in which he coped with pain.
“…if you suffer enough you suffer the most, then you will win. That doesn’t only mean the pain in sport, it means the things that you give up in life generally. You have to make sacrifices to be that successful, whether it’s not going out to parties, not drinking, not eating certain foods…… Suffering is definitely there, but it may not always be physical soreness, and pain, it can also be heartache… But I think if you can handle it, push it and give it out and take the most pain then racing is easy. And the more you can suffer in training, sometimes you will experience more pain than competition, and if you can do that, it makes competition even easier.” – (D)

Discussion

Positive Pain

In line with the research of others such as Heil (1993), it appears that even though pain is intrinsically an aversive sensation, it can be perceived positively. Participants described exertion pain as a common source of satisfaction and inspiration, creating positive thoughts and emotions that indicated effort and facilitated performance and well being. It is not surprising why athletes repeat pain evoking activity if it becomes essentially a positive experience. Perhaps those like Landis and other successful elite athletes are quick to perceive pain positively? Research and further understanding towards successful injured athletes is warranted.

Pain as a Psychological Weapon

Participants in this study suggest that the positive outcomes of exertion pain can create feelings of power, where pain can be used as a “psychological weapon” for use on competitors. Mood elevation; increased confidence; feelings of superiority; and feelings of control over others’ experiences of pain and effort, are all possible outcomes of exertion pain. Such findings extend Heil’s (1993) theory of the “social sphere” of pain, whereby athlete’s responses to pain can sometimes be mediated by the ways in which others display pain. Heil (1993) suggests that whether overtly or reluctantly displayed, others’ reports and limits of pain, not only serve as an informational means of gaging one’s tactics, but also play a key role in determining one’s own perception of pain. Participant reports from the present study additionally suggest that those “on the receiving end” may experience a heightened sensitivity to the negative aspects of pain, when interacting with others who appear “on top”.

Which Coping Style?

The present study revealed that coping strategies used to control pain, differed from participant to participant, and sometimes from situation to situation. The categories of coping strategies that emerged were similar to those identified by Hogg and Hayden (1997) and were labeled: rhythmic cognitive behavior, distraction or dissociation, and establishing an end. Participants believed that their own coping strategies were spontaneous, instinctive and largely unconscious. Participants also believed that such coping strategies effectively influenced their experience of pain, and that they were both situation and person specific. Heil (1993) proposed that counting, repeating a mantra, or singing to oneself, works to draw attention away from pain, by focusing attention on rhythmic activity. Such rhythmic activity may have a calming and stress reducing effect similar to that which is reportedly gained through the use of meditation or hypnosis (Barrett, 2001).

Room for the Psychological

The present study revealed that participants saw the mental aspects of performance as being very important, yet most did not feel formal mental skills training to be appropriate. This supports Hogg and Hayden’s (1997) suggestion that it is surprising that so few athletes seek professional help with mental skills training, given that they generally rate the mental element of performance as being so important. Participants tended to justify the decision to focus on physical aspects of training in terms of the belief that an individual’s ability to cope with pain is intrinsic to normal development.

References

Barrett, D. (2001). The power of hypnosis. Psychology Today, 34, 1, 58-65.
Egan, S. (1987). Acute pain tolerance among athletes. Canadian Journal of Sport Science, 12, 175-178.
Heil, J. (1993). Psychology of Sport Injury. Champaign: Human Kinetics.
Hogg, J. M. & Hayden, M. A. (1997). Pain perceptions among competitive runners. New Studies in Athletics, 2-3, 95-99.
Miller, S. & Maas-Hill, P. M. (1999). Sport Psychology for Cyclists. Colorado: Velo Press.
Morgan, W. P. (1985). Affective beneficence of vigorous physical activity. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 17, 94-100.
Tajet-Foxell, B. & Rose, F. D. (1995). Pain and pain tolerance in professional ballet dancers. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 29, 31-34.
Taylor, J. & Taylor, S. (1998). Pain education and management in the rehabilitation from sports injury. The Sport Psychologist
Vealey, R. S. & Walter, S. M. (1993). Imagery training for performance enhancement and personal development. In J. Williams, Applied Sport Psychology. California: Mayfield.
Walker, J. (1971). Pain and distraction in athletes and non-athletes. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 33, 1187-1190.

About the author:
Phil Moore is a Trainee Clinical Psychologist at the University of Exeter, England. He has studied and worked in psychology for ten years, working in the fields of learning disabilities, child psychology and adult mental health. He is a keen cyclist and has a special interest in exercise and psychological health.

By Kristen Dieffenbach, PhD, CC-AASP – Coaching Educator – West Virginia University

The June 8, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated features an article entitled “I Want My Body Back” by George Dohrmann. It is a long overdue look at the weight and health struggles of several post collegiate DI football players. The article focuses on football, but in reality, a similar article might be written about almost any high performance sport performer at almost any level. It got me thinking about the cost of playing and why we are so willing to let athletes pay that cost.

Sport = health right? Many people assume that because athletes are active, they are in fantastic shape. Unfortunately, for a wide variety of reasons this is often not entirely true….

Many sports require athletes to push the limits of their bodies and their training beyond good health and into the precarious realm of injury and illness. Often athletes at the peak of their conditioning are at their most vulnerable to colds and over use injury. I often tell my athletes that there is a fine line between ultra fit and broken, so we need to proceed with care.

And the very nature of performance sport demands that athletes learn to ignore pain and to push on. Playing hurt is a badge of honor and courage and many take that to an extreme. Additionally, like the young football linebackers in Dohrmann’s article, many players at both the college and high school level, pack on the pounds with empty calories and large quantities of food because their sport demands size as well.

This extra bulk often exceeds what is natural, let alone healthy for their frames. This health paradox in sport means bad knees, backs, elbows and shoulders that restrict the movement of many retired athletes long before their time. Couple this with excess weight that often continues to climb post career as athletes as physical activity level declines and eating habits don’t and you have the makings of some serious problems. The intense wear and tear and size adds to the physical stress and sets athletes up for diabetes, cardiac concerns and a whole host of other health problems. It is sad to see people that once lived in such a physical world, now unable to enjoy movement and burdened with poor health, particularly when it doesn’t have to be this way.

High performance sport is intense, it is punishing, and it takes it’s toll. For many this is just the price to play. I completely understand the drive to strive for excellence and I am not suggesting that athletes back off. I wouldn’t change a thing about my competitive days even if it meant my knees wouldn’t crack or old ‘itisis’ were gone. But certainly coaches, fans, and sport itself owes athletes more than just wringing out the talent while the athletes are fresh and healthy.

Certainly we can do better to support athletes in their quest for the top, while also preparing them for the inevitable day when they hang up the jersey. Shouldn’t being an athlete mean preparation for a lifetime of being athletic? All athletes age and all athletes will carry some battle scars off the field. But it seems that much more can be done to ensure that athletes are able to continue to be active and healthy in their post team days. From Dohrmann’s article, it seems that James Harris, the Oregon Duck’s nutritionist and assistant athletic director who has been helping his players adjust to post career athletics, is providing a great example for others to follow.

By Dr. Haley Perlus

Athletes First

Why do young athletes participate in sports?  This is a simple question with insurmountable implications for improving youth competitive sport.

Children choose to participate in sport for the following six reasons:

1) to have fun,  2) to learn and improve skills,   3) to be with friends,   4) to be part of a team,   5) to get exercise and stay in shape, and   6) for the challenge and excitement of competition (Gould & Petlichkoff, 1988).   Young athletes do not yet possess the talent, strength, skill, and experience to be elite (Erickson, 1996).  They’re in it purely to enjoy the experience.

From a developmental perspective, there are two justifications for youth competitive sport (Wiggins, 1987): personal development and peak performance. Personal development includes, but is not limited to, positive self-perceptions, long-term motivation to be active and experience new things, ability to cope with anxiety and disappointment, and sportspersonship.

Performance enhancement includes skill development and improvement

To keep young athletes in sport long enough for them to develop these positive qualities and discover their true athletic potential, sport psychologists recommend ……..

…….that youth competitive sports find a balance between individual and competitive rewards (Ames, 1986).

An individual reward structure allows athletes to work toward exerting more effort, learning from their mistakes, and improving their personal best performances. Individual rewards foster a sense of personal control and persuades athletes to bring attention to their skill development.

Conversely, a competitive reward structure highlights the natural urge for social comparison and forces athletes to work against each other for recognition. Competitive rewards encourage athletes to evaluate their ability solely based on performance outcome criteria and to forget about whether or not they improved from last time.

Individual rewards are especially important for children younger than 14 years. Research in developmental psychology (Horn, 1991; Horn & Hasbrook, 1986; 1987; Horn & Weiss, 1991) demonstrates that young athletes between eight and 12 years rely heavily on social comparison criteria and feedback and evaluation from significant adults (e.g. parents and coaches) to measure their success. Individual rewards teach young athletes to become aware of their own skill improvement. In turn, they develop an internal sense of satisfaction, self-efficacy and motivation. At this point, it would be difficult for an athlete to want to do anything but play sports.

It isn’t until about age 14 that athletes use multiple sources of criteria including social comparison, self-improvement, ease of learning new skills, and enjoyment of the activity to measure success. Thus, athletes around the age of 14 are developmentally capable of putting winning and social comparison in perspective and balancing it out with self-improvement.

As young athletes are developing, it is the responsibility of the coaches and parents to emphasize individual improvement rather than highlight the natural tendency to focus on how one young athlete compares to another. In turn, these athletes will exert more effort, persist to improve and learn new skills, and develop a long-term interest to stay in sport. Most importantly, they will be given the opportunity to develop physically and psychologically and realize their true athletic potential.

An Example worth looking at: Competitive Ski Racing

In an effort to create a more enjoyable experience for young athletes and instill positive personal development and performance enhancement, many youth competitive sport programs have modified the typical reward system. Instead of rewarding only the top three males and females in their level of competition, the reward system acknowledges a larger number of athletes (e.g. the top ten males and females).
Although intensions are pure, this reward system could produce the exact opposite effect of what it was designed for. Instead of decreasing the significance of social comparison and winning, the reward system places further emphasis on finish placements. Also, by distributing competitive rewards to a larger group of athletes in an attempt to increase self-efficacy, the youth program runs the risk of instilling unrealistic expectations for future competition. These viewpoints are discussed below.

Emphasis on Social Comparison and Winning

Imagine Jake, a small nine year old racer, who continues to improve his technique, but is not yet capable of placing in the top ten for his age group. To be a good “team player” Jakes is required to stay after each race and watch his peers be recognized for their race results. With a typical reward system, Jake would watch for a short period of time while the bronze, silver, and gold medals are distributed to the three fastest racers. With this new reward system in place, the duration of the ceremony is much longer. Consequently, Jake is conditioned to believe that the results and the competitive rewards make up the main event of the competition.

Picture Tracy, an 11 year old girl, walking to her parent’s car after the reward ceremony. Tracy is now looking around and seeing many athletes holding their reward while she is getting into the car empty-handed. Compared to when only a select few athletes, who finished in the top three, received a reward, Tracy is reminded of how slow she was compared to many of her peers.

In both cases, Jake and Tracy are exposed to a youth sport environment that teaches them the importance of race results and social comparison for measuring success. Due to their inability to earn a competitive reward, Jake and Tracy will develop low self-efficacy and possibly a fear of failure. The end result is an unhappy athlete who no longer enjoys the sport.

Instilling Unrealistic Expectations

Lisa, an early developing and talented 12 year old ski racer, is among the top five fastest girls in every race. Lisa is used to being recognized for skiing fast and she loves the attention and praise she continues to receive from all of the coaches, ski parents, and peers.

What will happen in a few years when Lisa’s peers catch up to her in strength, ability, and speed? It is common for an athlete like Lisa, who received endless recognition for her performance outcomes, to develop high self-efficacy in her sport. Unfortunately, when a top ten placement becomes harder to achieve, Lisa will have difficulty coping with the possibility of not getting a competitive reward. She will then be susceptible to anxiety and emotional exhaustion that could lead to burnout and, in worse cases, dropout.

How to Structure Rewards for Youth Competitive Sport

Winning and social comparison is inevitable in sport. The desire to be the best will never disappear, nor should it. Athletes, young and old, are going to ask themselves if they won and how they compared to their peers. However, we can balance this orientation by emphasizing individual improvement.

It is appropriate for youth competitive sport to include competitive rewards, just as they are included in higher levels of competition. Young athletes do not need to be sheltered from the true nature of competitive sports. Experience with success and defeat will help athletes to develop coping skills they can implement in any life domain.

It is essential, however, for coaches and parents to also provide athletes support for their self-referenced achievement. This support can be verbal (“Jake, your hands were up in front of your body the whole run – way to go”), physical (Tracy’s coach pats her on the back and gives her a smile in the finish area), or tangible (Lisa earns a hat, donated by a sponsor, for demonstrating aggressive effort from the start to the finish line). What is important is that each reward is earned and not just given for the sake of giving. When the reward is meaningful, it will instill self-efficacy in the young athlete, making the overall experience much more enjoyable.

The individual reward structure will also serve to put winning in perspective and define success and failure in terms of personal improvement (Smoll & Smith, 2002). Now, in addition to wanting to know how one person compared to another person, young athletes will be interested to know how they can get better than they were before and what will help them improve from their last performance.

Who is Dr. Haley Perlus?

Haley is a doctor of sport and exercise psychology.  She is an expert at empowering individuals to achieve peak performance.  A former elite athlete, Whistler Cup Alpine Ski Racing Champion, Coach, group fitness instructor, and fitness trainer, Haley has devoted her life to sport and exercise and understands the difficulty of overcoming performance blocks so that people can consistently perform to the best of their ability.  She is an enthusiastic and passionate seminar leader, speaking at numerous conferences, workshops, conventions and trade shows. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs.  Dr. Perlus is available for individual and group mental toughness consultations. To find out more about these programs, email us at haley@drhaleyperlus.com or call us at (303) 459-4516.

The Research on Focusing Attention

Most research has examined the attentional focus of runners by categorizing their thoughts as either associative or dissociative. This model proposed by Morgan and Pollock (1977) describes associative thoughts as those that tune into your bodily sensations such as breathing, heart rate, tempo, turnover, shaking out muscle tightness, focused relaxation of certain muscle groups or a part of your body and, eventually muscle fatigue and other not-so-desirable training experiences. Dissociative thoughts are those focused on just about anything but your bodily sensations. It’s a pretty basic strategy that purposely attempts to distract one from thinking about bodily sensations.

In 1998 Masters and Ogles published a review of the research on associative and dissociative cognitive strategies, reviewing a total of 35 studies. With regard to outcomes associated with attentional focus strategies, Masters and Ogles offered the following conclusions:

a) association is generally related to faster running performances,
b) runners use association more in races and dissociation more during training,
c) dissociation is related to lower rates of perceived exertion.

About ten years ago Stevinson and Biddle (1998) proposed and tested what they referred to as a more comprehensive system for classifying runners’ thoughts, arguing that a simple dichotomy is not sophisticated enough to capture the full range of runners’ thoughts. They proposed two dimensions: task relevance (relevant or not relevant to task performance) and, direction of attention (internal or external).

The Plot Thickens with a New Direction in Research on Running

In our research lab at Western Kentucky, we have been studying attentional focus in runners in recent years. In one of our studies (Wininger & Gieske, 2006) we proposed subdividing task-relevant inward monitoring into three separate categories: bodily sensations, task-relevant thoughts, and self-talk. In addition, we developed an instrument that would better capture what runners actually think about, and when they do it. It is called the Measure of Attentional Focus and it consists of six categories of thoughts:

1) Bodily sensations: attending to bodily sensations such as breathing or muscles/body parts.
2) Task relevant thoughts: attending to thoughts about strategy, technique, or goals related to time, and pace.
3) Self-talk: self-statements such as “I can do it” or “Keep going” or “Push it”.
4) Task relevant external cues: time splits, distance markers, terrain, or other runners.
5) Task irrelevant thoughts: thinking about things unrelated to exercise such as planning, daydreaming, or past events/memories.
6) External distraction: attending to music, TV program, other people, or scenery.

We recently conducted a study with participants in several 5k road races. We wanted to examine how the addition of the new categories (2 & 3 from above) might relate with athletic performance. Previous research has suggested that focusing on bodily sensations was most closely associated with better performance. However, we discovered that the amount of time a runner spent focusing on task-relevant thoughts was most highly related to better performance.

In another study with collegiate swimmers (Wininger & Graves, 2007) we found that how one perceives thoughts about their bodily sensations may also affect how those thoughts affect performance. Top finishers judged thoughts about bodily sensations as neutral. Swimmers finishing in 5-7th place judged bodily sensation thoughts as negative. A veteran college cross country coach suggested to us that better runners just check in with their bodily sensations like an instrument panel and use this information to decide how to proceed in terms of altering their pace.

Also, it appears that certain thought patterns characterize different portions of a race. In our study on athletes competing in 5K road races we found that task relevant thoughts were highest during the first and last third of the race. Task-irrelevant thoughts seemed to peak during the middle third of the race. This would suggest that the most difficult portion of the race in terms of maintaining focus was the middle third. Runners would do well to develop strategies or plans for maintaining their focus during this phase of a race.

So What Should You Think About While Running?

Based on our research thus far, we would suggest that if you want to improve your performance try to focus primarily on task-relevant thoughts, check in on bodily sensations periodically and use this information to alter your pace accordingly, use self-talk to get through tough stretches, and develop a plan for maintaining focus during the middle third of a run.

For Shorter Events 5K and shorter – I would also suggest that each runner attempt to systematically identify the optimal combination with regards to allocation of attention across the six categories for specific types of running, e.g., long slow runs, tempo runs, and racing. Note, during races attention to task-irrelevant thoughts and external distracters should be keep to a minimum, especially races of shorter distances such as 5K’s and shorter.

For Longer Training runs – However, it is important to note that task-irrelevant thoughts and external distracters are desirable when completing long training runs as they help to pass the time and may also lower perceived exertion.

About the Author:

Steve Wininger received his Ph.D. in sport psychology from Florida State University in 1998. He has provided sport psychology consultation for numerous collegiate teams: swimming & diving, basketball, volleyball, tennis, soccer, and track & field. His current research focus is on how to increase performance via the manipulation of attentional focus, especially for non-scoring aerobic activities such as running, swimming, and cycling. Steve’s athletic background includes competing at the collegiate level in both cross-country and tennis. He currently enjoys running 5K’s, swimming, competing in USTA team tennis, and hiking with his family. Steve is an associate professor of psychology at Western Kentucky University.

The following is from Wikipedia.org. This is good. Wait until you see the set of examples of violence.

Violence in sports can result in chaotic brawls, both by athletes and spectators. They may involve beer bottles, sinks from stadiums, improvised stabbing utensils, stadium seats, and whatever else may be found on hand.

In sports which are inherently violent, violence which goes beyond what is permitted by the rules sometimes occurs.

Competitive sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball may involve aggressive tactics, but actual violence is considered to fall outside the boundaries of good sportsmanship. Contact sports such as American football, ice hockey, rugby football, boxing, wrestling, and water polo involve certain levels of physical violence, but include restrictions and penalties for excessive and dangerous acts of force. Violence in sports may include threats, or physical harm and may be carried out by athletes, coaches, fans, spectators, or the parents of young athletes.

George Orwell once made the observation, “Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting.”[1]

Here’s the full article.

by Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. CC-AASP

The following article is by Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. of McKendree University. She’s an Association for Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultant.

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
-Lou Holtz

Psychologists know a few things about how to motivate people, that is basically what psychologists try and do for people is to help them get motivated to make a change. One of the basic things about motivation is that there are two main types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation means you are motivated by something outside of yourself. This would be the athlete who really ONLY plays because of the possibility of fame, fortune, or because of how other people treat him or her. Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes largely from within. But which is likely to drive an athlete in both the up and down times?

This would be the athlete who primarily performs because of the internal feelings of accomplishment, satisfaction, they like a challenge, they like competition, or they just love the sport or activity. For most people for most things it is a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that motivates them. For example, I love to drag race, but if there wasn’t a monetary payout and we were just racing for a trophy, I probably wouldn’t go racing nearly as much. Most psychologists say that having both is fine, but if you want to be active in your sport for the long term you probably need a great deal of intrinsic motivation to keep going. Intrinsic motivation keeps you going during the good times and the difficult times (the losses, the interceptions, the strike outs, the not qualifying, the missed serve, etc.).

Psychologists have also found that sometimes if a person gets too many extrinsic rewards, their intrinsic motivation might actually go down. I know this seems odd for most people, we would think that the more extrinsic rewards you received the more you would start to intrinsically love it. But this is not supported by research. For example, most kids love to read, but if you start to give them grades for their reading or you start to reward them too much for reading they actually start to like reading less! Most psychologists would not support the idea of paying kids to read, to study, etc. or else they might lose the intrinsic motivation to do this. A few extrinsic rewards are fun (certificates, t-shirts, food) on occasion, but the overuse and focus on extrinsic rewards can actually hurt intrinsic motivation!

So what can you do to keep motivated and to keep intrinsic motivation high? Here are a few tips:

1.) Remember why you love your sport. When you start to lose motivation, think back to why you started your sport and the things that make you love it. Think back to those early experiences in your sport that just make you smile. When the going gets tough, remember you love this stuff!

2.) Shake it up! Sometimes you need to change up your activities to keep you motivated. Maybe attend a different event, a different location, with different competitors. A change might help you stay intrinsically motivated.

3.) Add some fun; nothing makes you more motivated than having fun. Lack of fun is a sure fire way to kill motivation! You can be a serious athlete but still have fun. Just look at the Green Bay Packers Quarterback, Brett Favre, he is an elite athlete who still truly is having fun. Maybe you can add fun by having a picnic with your friends and family after an event. Maybe you could make a little vacation out of your next event. Fun won’t make you less committed; fun will just help you stay motivated for the long term. The best athletes can turn on and off their game face and have fun.

He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day… needs to reorganize his life. -George M. Adams

4.) WIN! Yeah, this is the hard one, but nothing makes you more motivated than a good win! But here is the chicken/egg problem if you win, you get motivated, but you have to be motivated to win…but you get the point, try to win and get happy, get motivated, and win some more! Celebrate those hard earned wins!

5.) Don’t second guess yourself. Take time to make good decisions, and then once you make a decision don’t go around beating yourself up if it doesn’t work. Nothing will knock out your intrinsic motivation quicker than beating yourself up. Sometimes outstanding athletes are very hard on themselves. It is one thing to make a mistake, learn from it, but then you have to forgive yourself and move on to stay motivated. Take your time making good decisions, learn from bad decisions, and then move on! Too much second guessing doesn’t do anything but make you feel bad. Of course we should think about our decisions, learn from our decisions, but too much second guessing will just make you feel bad and reduce your intrinsic motivation to do things.

“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”
-Sydney J. Harris, Strictly Personal

6.) Another thing guaranteed to reduce intrinsic motivation is comparing too much with other people. Nothing will get you feeling crappy quicker than comparing with others. Of course in sports you get compared to other people, but spend more mental energy focusing on your strengths and challenges than on the competition. In the world of auto racing, nothing will hurt intrinsic motivation more than always comparing with the person who has the fastest, coolest car with the greatest tow rig, etc. etc. It doesn’t mean you can’t look at nice stuff, be happy for the other person for what they have, or even think of ways that you can work to have that. But being jealous or envious of others will only make you feel bad about yourself. Psychologists call this upward social comparison when you compare to people who have better or more stuff than you do. This will probably just make you feel bad. Now of course you can also downward compare with those who have less than you, it might make you feel better temporarily but in the long run it probably will just make you realize that someone else could be downward comparing with YOU! No matter how fast, how cool, how new, or how good your race car is, there is always going to be somebody with something better (and probably somebody with something worse). The secret is being happy with where you are at and not feeling the need to compare with others. You should work on constantly improving yourself and capitalizing on your own strengths and working on your own challenges.

7.) Pump yourself up! To help you stay motivated you also might want to try getting some motivational music or coming up with some motivational sayings or quotes. Figure out ways to get or keep yourself motivated for your sport and for life!

Well are you feeling motivated? Do you feel ready to practice, ready to perform, ready to capitalize on your strengths, ready to work on your challenges? I hope so! I feel motivated just writing this! Remember that true success is not measured by winning one game or event or even having one winning season. True success is measured by consistently competing and staying motivated over the years. If you have any questions, comments please email me at tegglest (at) mckendree.edu.

Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. is an associate professor of psychology at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois. She received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in social psychology. She teaches sport psychology and conducts mental training with the volleyball, softball, soccer, and bowling teams at McKendree University. She and her husband, Mike, campaign a rear-engine, big block Chevy dragster at various drag races in the Midwest. She writes a monthly column for Drag News Magazine entitled, Think to Win, and is an invited speaker at the Drag News Expo on the topic of the psychology of drag racing. Her areas of expertise include team dynamics, the psychology of auto racing, women in sports, and commitment.

BLOG: http://drivingsecrets.com/blog/
Email: tegglest (at) mckendree.edu
Website: http://faculty.mckendree.edu/tami_eggleston/

Practice intensity is the will, commitment, and enthusiasm to practice with a purpose. Most coaches consider it an important characteristic of any successful team. The best players and teams have learned to get the most out of practices. They come to practice with an intense focus that directs them to enthusiastic, determined, goal-driven training. In youth sport very talented players often just ‘get by’ and are not intense in practice. They can cheat themselves for a while, but eventually others that practice with intensity catch up and pass them. ‘Going through the motions’ regularly in practice will stall your progress as an athlete. What you need to do is make practice intensity a habit. This column will explain practice intensity, highlight some possible causes, and help you develop ways of enhancing your practice intensity.

Intensity is not as simple as either you have it or you do not. Intensity must be viewed along a continuum where players can be over- or under-intensified. Thus, an appropriate level of intensity will lead to the best practices…..

Accordingly, sport psychologist Jim Taylor (1993) suggests that there are three important aspects of practice intensity including; (1) an ideal level of intensity is needed to play your best, (2) it is a positive feeling, and (3) the optimal level of practice intensity is different for all players. Let us now examine possible reasons for a lack of practice intensity.

Players that ‘go through the motions’ drive coaches insane. Why would players come to practice lacking intensity when it is obvious that good practices lead to good performances? Usually it is not intended. Instead, athletes that lack practice intensity may not be able to tell you the cause. Fortunately, research has provided some insights into this problem. Under-intensity often is the result of poor preparation, a lack of motivation, and fatigue. Moreover, under-intense players frequently lack goals or a plan for practice. Please reflect back to a practice when you were ‘going through the motions.’ Attempt to determine the reason(s) why you lack practice intensity.

Intensity level recognition is vital to focused practices. I often tell players to “check-in” with themselves right before practices or games to determine their level of intensity. Then we use an intensity meter to rate their level. A rating of 1 means that you are early asleep, and a 10 equals high intensity; maybe so intense that you are not focused on the appropriate things in practice. A log is a great way to track your intensity levels in practice. You can then determine after a couple of weeks what intensity level coincided with your best practices. An important note is that you should track you intensity for at least several weeks, otherwise you may get a “false reading” and not obtain the true optimal level of intensity.

Once you have determined your appropriate level of practice intensity, it is time to use several skills to increase practice intensity. You should think of these skills not just as strategies a player uses to increase intensity during practice, but as a way of consistent practice preparation. As mentioned earlier, players often lack intensity because they are not prepared. Developing a preparation plan before practices that include the following skills will help you eliminate ‘going through the motions.’ First, all good practices are goal-driven. Goals are achievement standards set to direct behavior (i.e., I will learn the forward crossover). Therefore, goals give us a clear purpose for practicing. It is amazing how many players go to practice without a goal. It is like driving a car without knowing the destination. Do not allow practice to be haphazard and lackadaisical. Set goals for improving skills, tactics, and techniques so that you will be on the road of progress every single practice. Chart your goals daily and list whether or not you successfully achieved your goal.

The second skill an athlete should make a habit is using cue words, phrases, and images that refocus behavior. These skills will help you overcome a lack of motivation or fatigue. For instance, when you are lacking practice intensity you should use an invigorating cue or effort phrase of “come on, let’s get intense” to increase intensity. Or, use an image of a time when you were playing great, practicing hard, or had great intensity. Finally, many athletes will think of powerful images such as a rocket launching or a leopard sprinting to increase intensity. In conjunction with these cue words, phrases, and images players can begin to increase their own intensity by running in place with high knees or performing quick starts and stops. ‘Going through the motions’ in practice undermines your attempts to improve as an athlete. Setting goals and using cues and images are important to increasing intensity. To become your best you must make practice intensity a habit. Pushing your limits every single practice will enable you to improve skills and develop into a consistent peak performer.

Taylor, J. (1993). The mental edge for tennis. (4th ed.) Aurora, CO: Minutemen Press.

The above article was written by Larry Lauer, Ph. D.
Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, Michigan State University
It appeared on the AAASP website. Here’s the link.

Ever had those days. When you just didn’t want to get out of bed, didn’t want to go to work or school/uni, and the last thing you wanted to do was go to training. Or maybe you have found yourself going through the same old training session doing the same old thing and confused as to where it is all taking you. Or maybe you have found yourself wondering what it is that you want to achieve in your life, what it is that you want to achieve in your weightlifting?

These feelings are very familiar for many athletes. At times it can get so frustrating that you may decide to take the quick option. You may choose not to work through your confusion, leaving many questions unanswered and possibly making a decision that you may later regret – such as leaving the sport that you love, weightlifting.

The above feelings may be experienced when you are just not motivated, or you are unsure about what you want to do with your life and your sport. One way of working through all of the confusion is to sit down and work out what it is that you want to do -

* what do you want to achieve with your weightlifting?

* what do you want to achieve with your education?

* what do you want to achieve with your work?

* what do you want to do for yourself?

By working out what it is that you want to achieve, you can bring direction back into your training and into your life. What you may also find is that your motivation levels will increase because you have identified some goals in your life that you want to achieve. Having these goals will give you something to aim for and something to work towards.

When setting goals for yourself, you need to firstly identify what your main goal is (eg. lift a particular weight, make it on to a particular team). You then need to decide what you have to do to help you achieve your main goal – these being stepping stones to your main goal. For example, you want to lift a particular weight by the end of the year, so the stepping stones would be looking at what you have to do in training and how you would have to look after yourself.

There are some important points that need to be remembered when setting goals:

1. make them specific – such as you want to lift 80kg in the snatch, rather than I want to do my best snatch
2. set short-term goals with deadlines – you will more likely achieve your long term-goals if you break them down into a series of short-term goals
3. make your goals challenging but achievable – a goal which is challenging or difficult will lead to the best performance rather than a goal that is moderate or easy
4. be flexible – a goal will become more important to you if it is interesting, challenging and it gives you direction
5. set goals together – discuss your goals with your coach as this will allow you both to work towards the same goals.
6. write goals and set priorities – record you goals in your training diaries as will allow you to watch your progress and write them in order of importance.
7. identify how you may sabotage your goals – sometimes you may avoid trying to achieve your goals, so it is important that you have an action plan to prevent this from occurring.

Goal setting can be seen as another way of planning. What is that old saying “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.”

The above article by Yvonne Brett appears on the Queensland Weightlifting Association’s website. Here’s the link.

The following paragraphs come from a NYT article by Gina Kolata. This is only part of the article. Here’s the link.

ROCHESTER, Mich. — When Mike Morgan was in high school in Lincoln, Neb., he wanted to be part of a sports team. But, as he saw it, he did not have much choice. Football was out — he was 5 feet 7 inches and 105 pounds. That left cross-country and track.

So Morgan became a runner, doing well but not turning any heads. When it came time for college, no coaches recruited him and he ended up at Nebraska Wesleyan, a small Division III college.

Morgan, now 27, is part of an unusual team, the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, whose goal is to give runners like him a chance to see if they can compete internationally at the highest levels.

He is one of 13 Hansons-Brooks runners who will compete in the Olympic men’s marathon trials Nov. 3 in New York; the top three finishers will represent the United States at the Beijing Olympics next summer. Nearly one out of every 10 men in the race is a Hansons-Brooks runner.

And nearly every one of those athletes is, like Morgan, a runner who would otherwise have dropped by the wayside.

The tale of the team and its runners reveals a sport in which money is short, fame hard to come by and glory elusive for all but a very few. It involves athletes who are ready to put their lives on hold for 8, 10, even 12 years while they live a monastic existence in a group home here, far from family and friends, doing little but running, twice a day, day in and day out.

It also is the story of Keith and Kevin Hanson, the brothers who founded, financed and coach the team. They know they have the fate of gifted athletes in their hands and they know there are few scientific studies showing the best way to train.

They have their goal, though. “We want to put somebody on that Olympic team,” Keith Hanson said.

The Hansons started the team in 1999, after deciding that something was wrong with American distance running. “We said, ‘Why is it that Americans were such a factor in the early to mid-1980s and not now?’” Kevin Hanson said.

They reasoned that it was because Americans had abandoned group training. “Ethiopians train in groups, Kenyans train in groups, Japanese train in groups,” Kevin Hanson said. But most Americans were trying to work full time after college while training on their own.

The brothers owned three running stores in Michigan — in Utica, Royal Oak and Grosse Point — that were doing well, so they decided to invest $250,000 a year in a team. They would provide essentials like housing, health insurance, travel money and equipment. And they would give the runners part-time jobs if they wanted them.

Eight years later, the Hansons have spent $2 million, have added another running store, in Lake Orion, and their team has 20 runners —16 men and 4 women. They have two sponsors — Brooks, the athletic shoe company, and Saturn, the car company. Most of the runners work 20 to 25 hours a week at one of the Hansons’ stores, where they are paid $10 to $12 an hour.

The runners start their day at 7:30 a.m., meeting at a duck pond beside a packed-dirt trail. Most end up running 120 to 140 miles a week. Brian Sell, the team’s best hope for making the Olympic team, runs 160 miles a week.

Yesterday four men were gored during the running of bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

But if you think the risk of serious injury failed to keep hundreds more from running with the 1,300-pound (600-kilogram) behemoths again today during the city’s famous multi-day festival, think again.

What it is that drives some to embrace extreme risks, while the rest of us scurrying for the safety of the sidelines?

Lester Keller, a longtime coach and sports-psychology coordinator for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, says that not everyone has the mental makeup to excel in dangerous pursuits.

“It takes a certain kind of person,” Keller said. He notes that most of us hit a natural ceiling that limits our appetite for extreme risk and, as a result, our ability to perform well in dangerous conditions.

But others have a much higher tolerance, if not craving, for risk. For example, Keller points to Daron Rahlves, a top U.S. downhill ski racer who spends the summer off-season racing in motocross competitions. “He enjoys the challenge and the risk,” Keller said.

“The high element of risk makes you feel alive, tests what you are made of and how far you can take yourself,” Rahlves said in a previous interview with U.S. Ski Team staff.

“I’m not looking for danger. I’m in it for the challenge, my heart thumping as I finish, the feeling of being alive,” he said. “I definitely get scared on some of the courses. It just makes me fight more. … The hairier the course the better. That’s when I do best.”

The fear that drives many people away from the risks of extreme sports may be the same ingredient that keeps others coming back for more.

Mountaineer Al Read has logged many notable first ascents over the course of his climbing career. Read now serves as president of the Exum Mountain guides, a preeminent guide service based in Wyoming. The company that leads paying clients to the summits of some of the world’s toughest—and most dangerous—mountains each year.

Having climbed for over 40 years, Read says he no longer pushes to the extremes as he once did—but the feeling is still vivid.

“I can remember when I was getting into situations where I thought that at any moment I could be killed,” he told National Geographic News. “I’m not particularly religious, but I would say, Oh God, don’t let me be killed here. I’ll never do this again.”

The above paragraphs come from an article by Brian Handwerk that appears on National Geographic News. This is only half of it and it’s good. (What else would we post on Halloween?) Here’s the full article.