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International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology
ISSN: 1612-197X (Print) 1557-251X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rijs20
Psychological demands experienced by
recreational endurance athletes
Alister McCormick, Carla Meijen & Samuele Marcora
To cite this article: Alister McCormick, Carla Meijen & Samuele Marcora (2016): Psychological
demands experienced by recreational endurance athletes, International Journal of Sport and
Exercise Psychology, DOI: 10.1080/1612197X.2016.1256341
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2016.1256341
Published online: 17 Nov 2016.
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Psychological demands experienced by recreational endurance athletes
Alister McCormick
a,b
*, Carla Meijen
b
and Samuele Marcora
b
a
Faculty of Sport & Health Sciences, University of St Mark & St John, Plymouth, UK;
b
Endurance
Research Group, School of Sport & Exercise Sciences, University of Kent, Kent, UK
(Received 18 February 2016; accepted 25 October 2016)
This study aimed to identify psychological demands that are commonly experienced by
endurance athletes so that these demands could inform the design of performance-enhancing
psychological interventions for endurance athletes. Focus group interviews were conducted
with 30 recreational endurance athletes of various sports (running, cycling, and triathlon),
distances, and competitive levels to explore the psychological demands of training,
competition preparation, and competition participation. An inductive thematic analysis was
used to identify psychological demands that were experienced across sports, distances, and
competitive levels. Seven themes captured demands that were commonly experienced away
from the competitive environment (time investment and lifestyle sacrifices, commitment to
training sessions, concerns about optimising training, and exercise sensations during
training), preceding an endurance event (pre-event stressors), or during an event (exercise
sensations, optimising pacing, and remaining focused despite adversity). Interventions that
could be delivered to recreational athletes, who do not typically have access to a sport
psychologist, are suggested. Experimental research examining the efficacy of interventions
that help endurance athletes to cope with the reported psychological demands is encouraged.
Keywords: cycling; focus groups; qualitative research; running; stressors; triathlon
Through this research, we aim to contribute to the design of performance-enhancing psychologi-
cal interventions for endurance athletes by increasing the understanding of the psychological
demands commonly encountered by endurance athletes. Sport psychology professional practice
guidelines (Birrer & Morgan, 2010; Simons, 2012; Taylor, 1995) encourage practitioners who
are designing a performance-enhancing psychological intervention to target the psychological
demands of the sport, in order to optimise the efficacy of the intervention. Although the prominent
psychological demands experienced in specific endurance events vary (e.g. Dosil, 2006), there
may be demands that are commonly experienced across various endurance sports, competitive
distances, and competitive levels. Research examining the efficacy of interventions aimed at
improving endurance performance could target these common demands, which would provide
an evidence base for practitioners working with endurance athletes who compete in various
endurance events. In other words, efficacious interventions that target common psychological
demands could have a wide application.
Psychological demands relate to stressors in transactional theories of stress (e.g. Fletcher,
Hanton, & Mellalieu, 2006; Lazarus, 1999). Contemporary transactional theories in sport psy-
chology propose that stress is “an ongoing process that involves individuals transacting with
© 2016 International Society of Sport Psychology
*Corresponding author. Email: amccormick@marjon.ac.uk
International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2016
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2016.1256341
their environment, making appraisals of the situations they find themselves in, and endeavouring
to cope with any issues that might arise”(Fletcher et al., 2006, p. 329). From a transactional per-
spective, stressors refer to encountered environmental demands (events, situations, and con-
ditions), and strain refers to negative psychological, physical, and behavioural responses to
stressors (Fletcher et al., 2006). Fletcher and colleagues’(2006) meta-model of stress, emotions,
and performance provides a useful framework for explaining the effects that stressors can have on
an athlete’s performance. According to this meta-model, athletes appraise the significance of their
relationship with an encountered stressor to their personal wellbeing. This process of appraisal
involves an evaluation of whether the encounter is relevant to their goals, values, beliefs, and
situational intentions (primary appraisal) and an evaluation of their coping options (secondary
appraisal). The athlete’s appraisals determine the emotions, and associated somatic and cognitive
symptoms, that the athlete experiences in response to the stressor (Martinent & Ferrand, 2015;
Uphill & Jones, 2007). Following the emotional response, it is proposed that the athlete evaluates
whether the emotion is relevant to their performance (tertiary appraisal) and their options for
coping with the emotion (quaternary appraisal). The athlete’s perceived ability to control and
cope with their emotional response is proposed to determine whether the athlete perceives it as
facilitative or debilitative to their performance. For example, negatively toned emotions such
as anxiety can be appraised as being detrimental or facilitative to performance through their
effects on psychological factors such as concentration and effort (Neil, Hanton, Mellalieu, &
Fletcher, 2011). Finally, an athlete’s actual ability to cope with the stressors and their responses
to them is proposed to determine the outcomes of the stress process, with sub-optimal wellbeing
and performance suggested to reflect an inability to cope. Indeed, research examining the stress
process has shown that an athlete’s appraisals of encountered stressors influence their emotional
responses and that, depending on the athlete’s coping, these emotional responses influence per-
formance-related behaviours (Miles, Neil, & Barker, 2016; Neil, Bowles, Fleming, & Hanton,
2016). The stressors encountered by endurance athletes could therefore influence their perform-
ance, depending on how the athlete appraises the stressors and elicited emotions and depending
on the effectiveness of their coping strategies.
Research has demonstrated that athletes encounter a wide range of stressors (for a review, see
Sarkar & Fletcher, 2014). These stressors can be broadly categorised as being associated with
competitive performance (referred to as “competitive stressors”), the sport organisation that ath-
letes operate within (referred to as “organisational stressors”), and personal life events outside of
sport (referred to as “personal stressors”). Competitive stressors include preparation, injuries,
pressure to perform well, underperformance in competition, performance expectations, self-pres-
entation, and rivalry. Organisational stressors include leadership and personnel issues, cultural
and team issues, logistical and environmental issues, and performance and personal issues. Per-
sonal stressors include the work–life interface, family issues, and the death of a significant other
(Arnold & Fletcher, 2012; Sarkar & Fletcher, 2014). Some stressors, such as pressure to perform
well, are experienced by many samples of athletes (McKay, Niven, Lavallee, & White, 2008;
Noblet & Gifford, 2002; Thelwell, Weston, & Greenlees, 2007). Other stressors, however, are
more prominent in certain samples of athletes, such as certain types of sport (McKay et al.,
2008), competitive levels (Fletcher, Hanton, Mellalieu, & Neil, 2012), and playing positions
(Thelwell et al., 2007).
Research has illuminated psychological demands experienced during training and events
within specific endurance sports (Buman, Omli, Giacobbi, & Brewer, 2008; Hollander &
Acevedo, 2000; Holt, Lee, Kim, & Klein, 2014; Kress & Statler, 2007; Nicholls, Levy, Grice,
& Polman, 2009; Samson, Simpson, Kamphoff, & Langlier, 2015; Schumacher, Becker, &
Wiersma, 2016). For example, channel swimmers have reported many demands including wild-
life encounters, weather and tidal conditions, swimming into the dark, loneliness, uncertainty
2A. McCormick et al.
about the duration of the swim and finishing, and a range of uncomfortable experiences (cold,
cramping, pain, aching, hunger, fatigue, mouth swelling, and vomiting) (Hollander &
Acevedo, 2000; Schumacher et al., 2016). In addition, ultramarathon runners reported that
muscle cramping and injuries, gastrointestinal problems, and thoughts about quitting were key
stressors during a 125-kilometre ultramarathon (Holt et al., 2014). Furthermore, elite-level
cyclists reported that exertion pain is the greatest psychological demand (Kress & Statler,
2007), and many recreational marathon runners report “hitting the wall”(Buman et al., 2008).
Anecdotally, endurance athletes in various sports and distances also experience some common
psychological demands (e.g. Taylor, 1995; Tuffey, 2000). For example, Tuffey (2000) argued
that endurance athletes experience three broad psychological demands: (1) long and repetitive
training sessions that can undermine motivation; (2) pain, discomfort, and fatigue experienced
in training and competition; and (3) preparation for competition, including planning for pain
and discomfort and developing and committing to a race plan. There is a lack of research,
however, that has included athletes of different endurance sports, distances, or competitive
levels and examined demands that are commonly encountered by these athletes.
Identifying psychological demands encountered by endurance athletes who compete recrea-
tionally, rather than professionally, could inform educational content and psychological support
provided to athletes who do not typically have access to a sport psychologist. These athletes
may learn about sport psychology through online media or group workshops where the delivered
content is unlikely to be personalised. Understanding the demands commonly encountered by rec-
reational endurance athletes could therefore help to maximise the relevance of delivered content
within the constraints of group-based delivery. In particular, identified demands could inform the
psychological support provided by “psyching teams”before, during, and after endurance events
such as marathons. Psyching teams provide support using online media such as webpages and
webinars, workshops, written handouts, dinner speeches, and brief conversations with athletes
before, during, and after the endurance event (Meijen, Day, & Hays, 2016).
Research to date has illuminated demands experienced by athletes competing in a wide range
of sports, including specific endurance events. Some demands are commonly encountered across
sports, playing positions, and competitive levels, but others are particularly prominent in certain
samples of athletes. To date, no studies have included athletes of different endurance sports, dis-
tances, or competitive levels and examined whether any psychological demands commonly affect
endurance athletes. The aim of the present study was to increase understanding of the psychologi-
cal demands commonly encountered by endurance athletes, in order to inform the design of per-
formance-enhancing psychological interventions for endurance athletes. Research demonstrating
the efficacy of psychological interventions that target common demands would provide an evi-
dence base that practitioners working with endurance athletes could consider. This study also
aimed to draw attention to common psychological demands that relate to wellbeing instead of per-
formance, such as sport enjoyment, to support holistic psychology practice.
Methods
Research philosophy
The primary researcher held a pragmatic research philosophy and attempted to provide useful data
for researchers and practitioners interested in performance enhancement in endurance sports (Gia-
cobbi, Poczwardowski, & Hager, 2005). Throughout the study, data collection and analysis strat-
egies were chosen based on their suitability for identifying psychological demands that are
commonly experienced across various endurance sports, distances, and competitive levels.
International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 3
Research design
Focus group interviews were used to collect data. Focus groups offer a tool to identify areas of
consensus and disagreement between participants’experiences, and they can generate rich data
by capitalising on group interaction such as discussion, debate, exchange of anecdotes, and use
of humour (Kitzinger, 2006; Patton, 2002).
Participants
Maximum variation sampling (Patton, 2002) was chosen, and participants of different sports, dis-
tances, competitive levels, ages, and genders were included. The researchers assumed that they
would identify unique themes in each focus group that would shed light on demands experienced
by specific groups. Nevertheless, the researchers were primarily interested in common psycho-
logical demands identified in spite of this variation that could represent central, shared experi-
ences that characterise participation in endurance sports (Patton, 2002).
Participants were 30 British, recreational endurance athletes. Interviews were conducted with
the following groups: runners (n= 10) who competed at distances ranging from 800 metres to half
marathons, including cross country; cyclists (n= 6) who competed in time trials, road races, or
both; triathletes who competed at distances ranging from sprint to long distance (n= 10); and
triathletes who predominantly competed in long-distance events (n= 4). Focus group composition
and participant characteristics are summarised in Table 1. Participants also estimated, using a
fixed range of values, the number of events they had participated in during the previous year
(median = 6–10) and in total (median = 21–50).
Procedure
Following ethical approval from the department ethics committee, gatekeepers (e.g. coaches,
committee contacts) at endurance sport clubs in South East England were contacted by email.
Three gatekeepers hosted a focus group with members of their club, and a fourth focus group
(three of four participants were from the same club) was held at the researchers’university.
Using pre-existing groups had the advantages that participants were comfortable talking to one
another, they related to each other’s contributions, and they offered different perspectives on
specific examples (Kitzinger, 1994). Each focus group involved athletes from one sport so that
shared familiarity of the sport would facilitate in-depth discussion. Before the first focus
Table 1. Overview of participant characteristics.
Focus group Gender Age
Competitive
level
Yearly
training
(weeks)
Weekly
training
(hours)
Years
competing at
the sport
Years
competing at
main distance
Runners m=7,
f=3
21±3 n=4,r=4,
u=2
50±4 9±2 7±4 4±3
Triathletes m=7,
f=3
41±11 a= 6, l = 4 48±4 13±6 10±7 6±3
Cyclists m= 6 50±17 a= 1, l = 5 48±3 11±2 10±13 9±13
LD triathletes m= 4 45±4 v= 4 47±5 13±7 5±2 3±2
Overall m= 24,
f=6
37±15 48±4 11±5 8±8 5±7
Note:a=age-group national or international; f=female; l=local; LD=long-distance; m=male; n=national; r=regional;
u=university; v=pursuing personal bests in various countries;±=mean±standard deviation.
4A. McCormick et al.
group, the facilitator conducted a pilot focus group with recreational runners to practise using the
interview guide and to test the relevance of questions. The questions were well received and
judged by the researchers to be appropriate for further use. Before each focus group, the facilitator
(who had not competed in an endurance sport) reflected in writing on topics of discussion that
were expected based on familiarity with sport psychology literature and personal assumptions,
themes they hoped would emerge (e.g. pain and discomfort are demands in competition,
boredom is a demand in training) and would not emerge (notably, anxiety plays a key role in per-
formance), and questions they perceived to be more important or more interesting (e.g. “Iam
more interested in the demands faced during competition. I therefore risk rushing through the
questions about the demands experienced before competition”). The main purpose of this activity
was to raise awareness of assumptions and expectations about the demands experienced by par-
ticular groups of endurance athletes and the researcher’s own biases so that, during the focus
group, the facilitator could self-question choices that could influence the results (e.g. choice of
probing questions, decision to move on to a new question).
Main focus groups
A semi-structured interview guide was prepared following the guidance of Patton (2002). The
facilitator began each focus group by describing what a focus group involves. The facilitator
then set ground rules (e.g. no interrupting) and introduced the topic. Specifically, the researcher
explained that he was interested in learning about the mental demands that endurance athletes
experience before and during competition. A demand was defined as a typical aspect of the
sport that makes the sport difficult. The researcher also specified that he wished to talk about
the thoughts and feelings that the participants experienced when training, preparing for compe-
tition, and competing. Participants were encouraged to think about specific, relevant experiences
that they could remember well before answering each question. Four main questions addressed
psychological demands of training (“What do you feel are the mental demands that you face,
if there are any, when you are training for your sport?”), psychological demands experienced
during the build-up to a competition, psychological demands experienced during a competition,
and mental characteristics needed to excel. The facilitator also asked whether pre-competition
demands change as a competition draws closer and whether demands vary during different
stages of a race. Participants were encouraged to talk about experiences that endurance athletes
might take for granted. The facilitator used detail, clarification, and elaboration probes, compared
and contrasted responses, summarised content, and asked for examples throughout (Patton,
2002). The facilitator also invited less-vocal participants to contribute, and he moved on from
each question when probing no longer led to the discussion of new material. Before concluding,
participants were given an opportunity to discuss experiences that were not covered. Focus groups
lasted between 85 and 115 minutes, and they were audio recorded.
Data analysis
The interviews were transcribed verbatim by the primary researcher, producing 213 pages of
double-spaced text. Features that could influence data interpretation, such as laughter and
pauses in speech, were included. The transcripts were analysed in NVivo using a thematic analy-
sis that involved six phases: familiarisation with data (reading and re-reading the data, noting
down initial ideas); generating initial codes (systematically coding interesting features of data,
collating data relevant to each code); searching for themes (collating codes into potential
themes, gathering all data relevant to each potential theme); reviewing themes (checking if the
themes work in relation to coded extracts and the entire data set); defining and naming themes
International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 5
(refining specifics of each theme and the overall story the analysis tells, generating clear defi-
nitions and names for each theme); and producing the report (selecting vivid, compelling
extract examples, relating the analysis to the research question and literature) (Braun & Clarke,
2006). Each theme was judged to capture “something important about the data in relation to
the research question, and represents some level of patterned [original emphasis] response or
meaning within the data set”(Braun & Clarke, 2006, p. 82). An inductive (i.e. data-driven) the-
matic analysis was chosen, and themes were identified in the explicit or surface meanings of the
data, so that the themes reflected participants’accounts of experienced demands. As this study is
interested in psychological demands that are experienced across endurance sports, themes were
identified across (rather than within) focus groups, and the themes provide an overall description
of the demands faced by the endurance athletes (rather than focusing on a small number of
themes). The second author, who studied all transcriptions, acted as a “Devil’s advocate”, criti-
cally challenging the primary researcher’s interpretation of the data (Krane, Andersen, &
Strean, 1997). Critical discussion led to the addition of one theme (concerns about optimising
training) and refinement of the other six themes.
Results
Seven themes captured psychological demands that were commonly experienced across endur-
ance sports, distances, and competitive levels. These demands were commonly experienced
away from the competitive environment (time investment and lifestyle sacrifices, commitment
to training sessions, concerns about optimising training, and exercise sensations during training),
preceding an endurance event (pre-event stressors), or during an event (exercise sensations, opti-
mising pacing, and remaining focused despite adversity). Table 2 summarises each theme. To help
the reader judge the relative prominence of each theme across and within focus groups, Table 2
also states the number of participants in each focus group whose verbal contributions were coded
within each theme (note, however, that non-verbal behaviours could not be coded, and “uh huhs”
could not be attributed to specific participants). The themes are presented in the order that they
might be experienced during the build-up to and during an event; training-related themes are pre-
sented first, followed by preparation and competition themes, respectively.
Time investment and lifestyle sacrifices
Training for endurance events required a substantial time investment from the endurance athletes.
As they also had family, employment, university, and social commitments, athletes in each focus
group struggled to find the time to train. Some athletes found this stressful, and they described
experiencing negatively toned emotions such as frustration and anxiety.
Long-distance triathlete (LDT) 1: Especially if you’ve got, like you say, I’ve got no kids, but I’ve got a
wife and trying to keep her happy and not be training all the time, working, you know, trying to juggle
that, it can be mentally straining in itself. It’s just trying to juggle everything so you’re doing enough
training and then the frustration of, “I don’t feel as if I’ve done enough training”and then the worry, “I
need to do more”, but physically I can’t do anymore because I’ve not got any time.
Triathlete (T) 1: The half-Irons and the long, long distances that you have to spend hours and hours
and hours on a bike, you can’t get away from spending a minimum of spending six hours on a bike at a
time just because your race will involve it, and then you have to do that probably twice a week on each
discipline that you’re doing, so you’ve got six training sessions for every little rest and that impacts.
(His wife) T2’s done practically no events this year because it was kind of my turn to do a race,
whereas next year, I don’t know quite what we’re going to do because we’re both racing. Anyone
else want some children?
6A. McCormick et al.
The athletes described the sacrifices that they made so that they could train and compete,
which included other sports, hobbies, employment opportunities, social opportunities, and spend-
ing time with family. The athletes were also aware of the sacrifices that their families made for
them to train and compete, and they recognised that they needed their family’s support. Some ath-
letes were willing to prioritise training and competing over other opportunities and commitments,
and they planned their days around training and competing. Four athletes with families even
stated that athletes need to be selfish to excel in their sport. Nevertheless, the sacrifices made
by family were sometimes a source of negatively toned emotions such as guilt.
Cyclist (C) 1: And I feel, to a point sometimes, a bit, a bit guilty, it’s come up before about, sort of the
amount of time I’m away from my wife, she’s very understanding, all the rest of it, but there is that sort
of that nagging “Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this, I should be at home doing some painting or I should
be going out with her”.
Table 2. Overview of themes and sub-themes.
Theme Sub-theme Essence of the theme/sub-theme
Participants coded within
the theme/sub-theme
Time investment and
lifestyle sacrifices
Time investment
to participate
The endurance athlete struggles to
find time to train.
C=3,R= 2, LDT = 3,
T= 7 Subtheme total =
15
Sacrifices made
for the sport
The athlete and their family make
sacrifices so that the athlete can
participate in the sport.
C=3,R= 6, LDT = 3,
T= 4 Subtheme total
= 16 Theme total = 21
Commitment to
training sessions
Remaining committed to training is
difficult, particularly when
training alone in bad weather.
C=5,R= 8, LDT = 2,
T= 10 Theme total =
25
Concerns about
optimising training
The athlete is concerned about doing
insufficient, inappropriate, or
substandard training.
C=0,R= 3, LDT = 1,
T= 5 Theme total = 9
Pre-event stressors Logistical
stressors and
worries
Pre-event logistics are stressful, and
the athlete worries that something
might go wrong before the event
start.
C=0,R= 0, LDT = 3,
T= 7 Subtheme total =
10
Something goes
wrong
Something goes wrong before the
event start, and it has a negative
effect on the athlete’s mental state.
C=4,R= 1, LDT = 1,
T= 0 Subtheme total
= 6 Theme total = 15
Exercise sensations Exercise
sensations
during training
Training is hard work and painful. C=6,R= 5, LDT = 0,
T= 2 Subtheme total =
13
Exercise
sensations
during an event
The athlete experiences exertion,
pain, fatigue, and discomfort
during the event.
C=3,R= 5, LDT = 4,
T= 7 Subtheme total
= 19 Theme total = 23
Optimising pacing
during an event
Pushing yet
pacing
The athlete finds it difficult to judge
how hard they can push their self
during an event.
C=0,R= 2, LDT = 4,
T= 8 Subtheme total
=14
Effect of other
competitors on
pacing
The athlete has to make pacing
decisions based on the behaviour
of their competitors.
C=4,R= 5, LDT = 0,
T= 3 Subtheme total
= 12 Theme total = 21
Remaining focused
despite adversity
during an event
The athlete finds it difficult to re-
focus and remain motivated after
encountering a stressor.
C=5,R= 6, LDT = 4,
T= 7 Theme total = 22
Note:C= Cyclists (out of 6); R= Runners (out of 10); LDT = Long-distance triathletes (out of 4); T= Triathletes (out of
10).
International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 7
Commitment to training sessions
Athletes in each focus group reported a lack of motivation to start a training session and a will-
ingness to miss training sessions. This was particularly the case when they were training alone and
when the weather was cold or wet. Although numerous reasons were given for this lack of motiv-
ation, such as not having an incentive like an upcoming event, a particularly common reason was
that the training was not enjoyable. Making arrangements to train with others (e.g. squad training,
organising to train with friends) helped the athletes commit to attending training sessions and to
work hard in those training sessions.
Runner (R) dialogue:
R1: Once you start, it’s ok. It’s actually getting up and out of the house.
R2: On my own, that’sdefinitely the case. If I’m going down to train with people, then it’s not an
issue, not at all.
R3: For example, like for the Tuesday and Thursday sessions, a lot of us obviously enjoy them
because we go down and there’s a big group there and we all do the session together, but probably
if all of us had to do the Tuesday and Thursday sessions on our own, half of us probably wouldn’t
do them.
T3: I have to focus on the thing that I’m weakest at (cycling) because …that’s the biggest chunk in
half-Ironman, that’s the most amount of time (pause) but, like T2, I couldn’t go out and do it on my
own, I’d need company (laughs) …It’s like when people say, “Oh, it’s fun”.It’s not fun to me. I have
to make myself.
Concerns about optimising training
Runners and triathletes described concerns about the quantity, appropriateness, or standard of
their training. This theme manifested differently across the focus groups. Dialogue between
three runners, who frequently trained together in a group, suggested that they were critical of sub-
standard performances in single training sessions and focused on these performances rather than
their longer-term progress, they compared their training performances to other runners despite
differences in training objectives, and they worried about taking rest days because they did not
want to lose fitness. The triathletes, on the other hand, described examples where they lacked con-
fidence that they were doing the right training or worried about getting the right balance between
the three disciplines.
Triathlete dialogue:
T4: You think, “Oh, am I concentrating on that sport too much?”
T5: Or am I getting enough miles on the bike or
T6: Well, it’s juggling, isn’t it. (T5: Yeah) You’re concentrating more on one, you’re losing off the
other, don’t you?
T5: Exactly.
Exercise sensations during training
The athletes described experiences of pain and exertion during training. These experiences were
particularly prominent among the runners and cyclists, who trained at high intensity. The athletes
recognised that they need to push through discomfort to achieve the physiological adaptation
necessary to improve their performance.
C1: It’s incredibly painful for me. When I go out with certain people (laughing) and we do a
hard session, I mean it’s maximal for me, when you’re riding with people who can stretch you,
8A. McCormick et al.
it is absolutely flat out, I’m putting myself into pain zones that I’ve never been in
to before and would never do but, but for the fact that I’m trying to push the performance
envelope.
T2: You know that you’ve got to push your body beyond what is comfortable in order for it to adapt,
it’s the principle of training. If you just sit there at a speed that’s comfortable in whatever discipline,
you’re not going to adapt, you’re not going to improve, so you know you’ve got to get over that
mental barrier, somehow going beyond what’s physically comfortable.
Pre-event stressors
Cyclists and triathletes described substantial event preparation, which included packing their bag
and equipment, checking their bike, and learning the event route. They also described difficult
logistical aspects encountered on the day of an event, including waking up early, driving to an
event with closed roads and congestion, finding parking, registering at the event, and setting
their bike in the swim-cycle transition and memorising its location. As a consequence, some of
the athletes reported feeling stressed before the event, and they worried that something might
go wrong. The athletes also described unexpected disruptions to these pre-event activities,
which included arriving late to the event and forgetting a piece of equipment. These disruptions
led to the athlete feeling agitated, annoyed, or distracted.
C2: If I forget one thing, it might be something minor that doesn’t make a lot of difference but it ruins
me mentally …It leaves me flustered, yeah. And I want to be on the start line with a clear head, and it
doesn’t give me that. I’m fretting.
Optimising pacing during an event
The athletes wanted to pace themselves optimally to finish an event, to achieve a time, or to place
well in the standings. The athletes balanced pushing themselves to their limit with avoiding pre-
mature exhaustion. Some of the athletes reported feeling uncertain about their pace and ques-
tioned whether they were pushing hard enough. This demand appeared particularly relevant to
athletes who participated in longer events, especially triathlons.
T1: I always, yeah worry, “Am I going fast enough?”because it feels a bit too comfortable.
T7: I think that’s the difficult part, saying “How fast can I really go and still just about make it across
the finishing line?”
LDT2: I find it mentally quite challenging balancing the three disciplines because, you know, you turn
up to the run, you’ve overcooked it on the bike, guess what, Armageddon. You overcook it on the
swim, Armageddon …There’s this line, you know, if you push it by 2%, you’re going to get away
with it …it’s going to get you that PB (personal best), it’s going to get you in that top whatever
number it is (in the standings) that you’re looking to achieve. You push it, you know, that 1%
over, dog-doo, you’re dead.
Competitive athletes who raced head-to-head described the tactical pacing decisions that they
made in relation to other competitors. They had to decide whether to adjust their pace to catch,
shake off, or fall behind a competitor, or whether to trust their own pace.
R4: So like if somebody comes past you in a race, it’s having the confidence that you will still beat
them in the end, which happened to me in a couple of races where someone’s come past and I’ve
managed to still get them at the end. You’ve got the choice of whether to believe when they go
past you, if you’re going to let them go, stay with them, if you think that you are quicker than
them, still believe in yourself.
International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 9
Tactical decisions were particularly important to road-race cyclists who raced for finishing pos-
itions and not times. Indeed, Cyclist 3 described racing as a “moving game of chess”because
of the constantly changing tactical elements of racing. The cyclists reported constantly monitoring
performance cues (e.g. positions of other cyclists, environmental and road conditions), and they
reacted to the behaviours of other cyclists.
Exercise sensations during an event
A demand consistently reported across focus groups was the exertion, pain, fatigue, and discom-
fort experienced during events. Words such as “pain”,“hurt”, and “suffering”captured a range of
unpleasant exercise-induced sensations that typically became more prominent as the event pro-
gressed and were greatest at the end. The athletes described a desire to stop or slow down, and
they described unhelpful self-talk that was persuading them to not continue.
Runner dialogue:
Facilitator: If you take out male and female, if you take out teenager versus someone in their twenties,
if you take out the distance, what do you think are the typical demands of running that will always be
there?
R5: Well, you’re going through physical Hell and you’ve got to finish it as well as you can …
R6: It’s probably one of the only sports where, the goal of it is to push yourself through as much phys-
ical pain as you can, and that’s basically the goal …push yourself to your maximum. That’s it.
LDT3: If you’re not thinking about anything (i.e., distracting yourself), all you’re going to think about
is your feet hurt, your ankles hurt (LDT4: Yeah. My knee hurts), everything hurts, you just think about
all the bits that hurt, all the reasons why it’s madness to keep on putting one foot in front of the other,
“You should just stop”.
R7: Getting to the bell (in a 1,500-metre race) and then realising that you’ve still just got to do
this 400 metres to make it, I think, in my mind, everything’s hurting, everything’s in pain, but
somebody’s saying “It’s only 400 metres, it’s only 400 metres”, but somebody else is saying
“You’re dead, you’re not going to be able to make it”,you’re always fighting against your
head in a race.
Remaining focused despite adversity during an event
The athletes reported a wide range of stressors that were encountered during endurance events.
These included unfavourable environmental conditions, being overtaken, substandard perform-
ance, collisions, bike punctures, nutritional mistakes, and dropping food or a water bottle. Ath-
letes in each focus group reported occasions where these stressors had a detrimental effect on
their mental state. Specifically, the athletes often reported responding with unconstructive
self-talk statements and experiencing negatively toned emotions such as discouragement and
frustration. Further, they described difficulty re-focusing on their performance and remaining
motivated.
Cyclist dialogue:
C3: Head winds can have an even worse effect because all of sudden you cannot go faster, and you
forget the fact that it’s the same for everyone else as well, you know, it’s not just you …
C2: It still feels very personal at the time …
C3: Especially on the time trial, you’re convincing yourself that you’re the only one feeling like that in
these conditions, be it rainy and you’re going slow, or your disk wheel’s getting hit by sidewind, you
think that’s not happening to anyone else and it’s just you, and you’re looking down at your dock,
“I’m 30 seconds off what I should be”, you know, “disaster”.
10 A. McCormick et al.
C4: When you’re really going well, you look good, you know, and it’s all coming together and the
adrenaline’sflowing, you know, ppheeww, you’re on fire. When things start to go wrong, that’s
when it’s a very difficult mental position to be in, I think, and that’s the hardest thing to try to
learn, how to overcome that “Oh shit, what a terrible day this is”.
LDT4: I had my PB up by probably half an hour on a good course and missing one bottle, just literally,
just flipped out my hand, scuppered the lot (laughing), took it out completely. And that’s it, you’ve
then got to go for the rest of the race thinking, (numerous laughing) “I’ve buggered up all that train-
ing”, and now a year’s worth of training, six months of dedicated commitment, (laughing) and it’s all
gone to pot.
Discussion
This study aimed to increase understanding of the psychological demands commonly encountered
by endurance athletes, particularly to inform the design of performance-enhancing psychological
interventions for endurance athletes. Seven themes captured demands that were experienced away
from the competitive environment, preceding an event, or during an event (Table 2). These
demands were perceived to affect motivation and concentration and therefore have implications
for performance. The demands were also perceived to affect outcomes related to wellbeing, such
as the emotions experienced before, during, and after events. Interventions that help endurance
athletes to cope with these psychological demands could therefore encourage desirable outcomes
related to both performance and wellbeing.
The results of this study draw attention to stressors that are commonly encountered by rec-
reational endurance athletes. The endurance athletes reported a range of competitive stressors
(e.g. being overtaken), as well as personal stressors related to time demands and lifestyle sacrifices
and organisational stressors related to pre-event logistics. These stressors endangered goals such
as finishing a long-distance triathlon, achieving a personal best time, or placing well in the stand-
ings. Consistent with transactional theories of stress, these stressors were often associated with
negatively toned emotions, such as guilt, frustration, discouragement, and anxiety. Stressors
and associated negatively toned emotions were also perceived as having detrimental effects on
the athletes’motivation for training and competition, as well as affecting their attention and con-
centration (Lazarus, 2000). Previous research has demonstrated that some stressors are commonly
experienced across many samples of athletes (e.g. McKay et al., 2008), whereas others are par-
ticularly prominent in specific samples of athletes, such as certain types of sport (McKay et al.,
2008) and competitive levels (Fletcher et al., 2012). Endurance athletes in the present study
reported some demands that are commonly experienced across sports, whereas other demands
appear particularly prominent in endurance sports. For example, the time investment and lifestyle
sacrifices, the demand of optimising pacing, and the experienced exercise sensations appear to
characterise performing in endurance sports at the recreational level. In contrast, some themes,
such as pre-event stressors and remaining focused despite adversity, reflect demands that are
experienced in a range of sports (e.g. Dugdale, Eklund, & Gordon, 2002; Mellalieu, Neil,
Hanton, & Fletcher, 2009). Independent of whether the themes highlight demands that are
unique to endurance sports, these demands are often experienced by endurance athletes and
could therefore inform the design of interventions for endurance athletes.
A demand that is prominent among recreational endurance athletes relates to time demands and
lifestyle sacrifices. Participants estimated that they trained for an average of 11 hours each week
(Table 1). This is a substantial time investment for people who compete recreationally, rather
than professionally. A substantial training investment is necessary, however, because participating
and excelling in endurance sports requires a high level of aerobic fitness. Other studies have simi-
larly highlighted that ultramarathon runners (Simpson, Post, Young, & Jensen, 2014) and masters
cyclists (Appleby & Dieffenbach, 2016) dedicate a substantial amount of time to training, which
International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 11
can come at the expense of other activities such as socialising with friends. Although balancing
competing time demands, making personal sacrifices, and knowing that family have made sacri-
fices are recognised stressors for elite-level athletes in other sports (e.g. McKay et al., 2008;
Noblet & Gifford, 2002; Scanlan, Stein, & Ravizza, 1991), the substantial time investment and
sacrifices associated with participation in endurance sports are unusual for recreational-level sports.
A second demand particularly prominent in endurance sports relates to exercise sensations
(exertion, pain, fatigue, and discomfort) experienced during training sessions and events. This
broad demand manifests differently in different endurance events. For example, injury-related
pain, such as hurting feet and knees, is a prominent exercise sensation for athletes competing
over longer distances such as ultramarathons (Holt et al., 2014), and intense exercise-induced
muscle pain is a prominent exercise sensation for athletes who train and compete at high intensity
(Kress & Statler, 2007). Unpleasant sensations indicate that an athlete is pushing their self, and
participants recognised that they need to persevere to achieve physiological adaptation from train-
ing or a desired outcome from an event. Psychological skills training strategies that help athletes
to persevere despite high levels of perceived effort (Blanchfield, Hardy, de Morree, Staiano, &
Marcora, 2014) and pain (Whitmarsh & Alderman, 1993) in training and in events could help
endurance athletes to achieve these desired outcomes. In the present study, athletes reported dif-
ficulties remaining committed to training sessions, and the exercise sensations experienced during
training could be a contributing factor. Research demonstrates that exercise becomes less pleasur-
able when the intensity exceeds the lactate and ventilatory thresholds, and exercise becomes
unpleasant when the intensity reaches maximal oxygen consumption (Ekkekakis, Parfitt, & Pet-
ruzzello, 2011). The lack of pleasure experienced from exercising in an endurance activity, com-
bined with cold and wet weather and a lack of social interactions when training alone, may mean
that some training sessions are less enjoyable and, as a consequence, the athletes may be less com-
mitted to these training sessions (Williams, 2013).
An additional prominent demand related to pacing. Some athletes felt uncertain about whether
they should increase their pace, or they worried that they were not pushing hard enough. These
self-reports of pacing uncertainty may be attributed to the athletes’inability to accurately predict
how their perceived effort would increase during the rest of the event. The endurance athletes
might therefore have been cautious in how hard they pushed their selves so that they avoided pre-
mature exhaustion (Marcora & Bosio, 2007; Marcora, 2010). Competitive athletes who raced
head-to-head also described pacing decisions that were influenced by the behaviours of compe-
titors. For example, they reported occasions where they had to decide whether to trust their own
pace or adopt the pace of a faster competitor, which involves the risk of premature exhaustion.
These head-to-head pacing decisions are difficult for endurance athletes, because the performance
environment is constantly changing, there are a lot of relevant cues to consider, athletes do not
know the current physiological capacity of their competitors, and decisions often need to be
made quickly and under pressure (Renfree, Martin, Micklewright, & St Clair Gibson, 2014).
Therefore, it has been recommended that research should focus on helping endurance athletes
to use the most relevant cues to make fast decisions that optimise their performance (Renfree
et al., 2014).
Intervention design and applied implications
This study aimed to inform the design of performance-enhancing psychological interventions for
endurance athletes. A range of psychological interventions were recently shown to improve
endurance performance (McCormick, Meijen, & Marcora, 2015), but few of these interventions
appeared to target the demands of the particular endurance sport or the demands of endurance
events in general. The potential benefits of targeting the demands reported in this study include
12 A. McCormick et al.
performance enhancement, but they also extend to valuable outcomes related to wellbeing, such
as enjoyment and satisfaction. Many sport psychology practitioners aspire to help athletes to
achieve these wellbeing-related outcomes (e.g. Brady & Maynard, 2010). Experimental research
examining the effects of interventions that target some of the highlighted psychological demands
is encouraged.
Fletcher et al.’s(2006) meta-model of stress, emotions, and performance proposes that efforts
to manage the stress process in athletes can occur at three levels (primary, secondary, and tertiary).
Primary interventions aim to eliminate or at least reduce the quantity, frequency, or intensity of
stressors, secondary interventions aim to modify sport performers’psychological responses to
stressors, and tertiary interventions aim to minimise the damaging consequences of stressors
by helping athletes to cope with reduced performance or wellbeing that result from strain
(Fletcher et al., 2006). Applied suggestions are offered for each level. Psychological support
that can be provided using online media such as webpages and webinars, workshops, written
handouts, dinner speeches, and brief conversations with endurance athletes at an event (Meijen
et al., 2016) could be particularly valuable for recreational athletes, because recreational athletes
do not typically have access to a sport psychologist.
For recreational endurance athletes, many competitions are mass-participation events, and the
findings of this study indicate that logistical and environmental organisational stressors (Arnold &
Fletcher, 2012) related to travel (e.g. congestion, closed roads), rules and regulations (e.g.
required arrival times), and distractions (e.g. locating toilets) are prominent. As an example of
a primary intervention, practitioners could provide guidance on preparing to attend an upcoming
endurance event through online media and pre-event workshops. For example, endurance athletes
could reduce pre-event stressors by creating a packing checklist, researching anticipated road and
car-park congestion, and preparing a timetable to arrive at the event early. Indeed, there are com-
puter and phone applications available that help with packing for an endurance event (e.g. http://
triathlon.racechecklist.com).
As an example of a secondary intervention, endurance athletes could use implementation
intentions, or “if-then plans”, to prepare for stressors that could occur before or during an endur-
ance event. Specifically, athletes could identify detrimental inner states (e.g. unconstructive
thoughts or emotions) and obstacles that they might encounter (e.g. a tyre puncture), and plan cog-
nitive (e.g. motivational self-talk statements, adjustment of goals) or behavioural (e.g. repairing a
puncture, change of pace) responses (Achtziger, Gollwitzer, & Sheeran, 2008). Endurance ath-
letes could also visualise implementing these responses, or they could actually practise them
(e.g. taking goggles on and off during a swim). For experimental research, problems encountered
by endurance athletes, such as being overtaken by another athlete or losing time to an uncontrol-
lable factor (e.g. random puncture time penalties) could be simulated in controlled laboratory con-
ditions. In addition to implementation intentions, sport psychologists could deliver cognitive-
restructuring interventions based on cognitive-behavioural therapy principles that help endurance
athletes to perceive their emotions as facilitative, rather than debilitative, to performance (Neil,
Hanton, & Mellalieu, 2013).
Recreational endurance athletes may experience performance decrements and reduced well-
being because of stressors such as injury or having limited time to train due to family and
work commitments. Tertiary interventions can be used to help athletes to cope with these perform-
ance decrements and reduced wellbeing. As an example, sport psychologists may be present at an
endurance event as part of a psyching team. As part of the structure of a psyching team, sport
psychologists may be present at the end of the event in locations such as the medical tent, and
can help athletes to manage thwarted performance expectations (Meijen et al., 2016).
Finally, endurance athletes dedicate a substantial amount of time to training, even at the rec-
reational level. It can be difficult for endurance athletes to find time to train because of family,
International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 13
work, and other commitments, and endurance athletes and their families make sacrifices so that
the athlete can train and compete. When designing an intervention, practitioners and researchers
should consider the restricted time that endurance athletes have available. Practitioners should
also be aware that demands outside of sport, such as time and family stressors, can affect an
endurance athlete’s experiences during training and events. Practitioners working with an endur-
ance athlete are therefore encouraged to adopt a holistic approach to service delivery and to con-
sider the interplay between the athlete’s different life domains (e.g. Friesen & Orlick, 2010).
Limitations
This study aimed to identify psychological demands that are commonly experienced by endur-
ance athletes. Covering a broad range of demands related to training, competition preparation,
and competition participation was useful for informing psychological interventions for endurance
athletes, but it meant that individual demands were not explored in depth. Future research could
build on these findings by focusing on a narrow range of demands. An additional limitation of this
study is that it focused on the demands experienced by endurance athletes, and it did not examine
the full stress process including appraisals, emotions, and coping (cf. Miles et al., 2016; Neil et al.,
2016). Future research that is informed by a transactional theory of stress could shed greater light
on the complete stress process in endurance athletes. The presented data indicate that research
informed by transactional theories could inform the application of psychology in endurance
sports to support valuable outcomes related to both performance and wellbeing.
Conclusion
This study aimed to increase understanding of the psychological demands commonly encountered
by endurance athletes, in order to inform the design of performance-enhancing psychological
interventions for endurance athletes. Identified themes shed light on psychological demands
that are commonly encountered away from the competitive environment (time investment and
lifestyle sacrifices, commitment to training sessions, concerns about optimising training, and
exercise sensations during training), preceding an endurance event (pre-event stressors), and
during an event (exercise sensations, optimising pacing, and remaining focused despite adver-
sity). Psychological interventions that help endurance athletes to cope with these psychological
demands could encourage desirable outcomes related to both performance in endurance sports
and wellbeing. Experimental research examining the efficacy of such interventions is encouraged.
ORCID
Carla Meijen http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0191-5344
Samuele Marcora http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1570-7936
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