Dealing with Setbacks on the Road to the Irish Life Dublin Marathon

Managing obstacles on the journey to the Irish Life Dublin Marathon by Sports Performance Psychologist Jessie Barr

It’s August, which means we are less than three months out from the Irish Life Dublin Marathon. By now you are probably well into your training programme. Many of you will have taken part in some of the Irish Life Dublin race series races. Some of you will have set personal best times in races in training. Hopefully most of you will be seeing progress in your training. Something I can guarantee the majority of you have already encountered, or else you will encounter, is some form of setback in your journey. Unfortunately, even with all of the best laid plans, setbacks are often unavoidable. In fact, they are a very common part of any journey towards a goal.

Injury, illness, missed training, underperformances – all of these are setbacks that athletes at all levels will have to face at some stage. The most frustrating thing about setbacks is that they are usually out of our control. So, when a setback happens, the best strategy is to focus on what you can control. But what is in our control? The first and most important thing in our control is how we choose to react to the setback, or specifically how we respond to the setback. When a setback happens it is completely normal to have a negative emotional reaction; panic, worry, frustration anger, sadness. While we cannot control this initial emotional reaction, we can control how we respond after we have reacted.

When a setback happens, we have we can choose to allow the negative emotional reaction to take hold and go into a spiral of negative thinking, worrying that all of your progress so far will be lost, or panicking that you won’t be ready for the day of the Irish Life Dublin Marathon or get angry that you have faced a setback full stop. Or, you can choose to allow the initial emotional reaction and then respond by focusing on what you can control in the situation. For example, if you pick up an injury you can choose to look at the other types of training and exercise that you can do while your injury heals. Although this is not the ideal scenario or preparation it will still help you progress towards your goal. While you injured you can use the time as an opportunity to maximise your sleep and your nutrition, both of which will help you towards your overall goal.

Nobody wants to face a setback in pursuit of a goal, but unfortunately few journeys are without their bumps in the road, but taking action and choosing to be proactive can help you make the best of a bad situation. Often a setback can provide us with a valuable opportunity to regroup, refocus and evaluate our progress to date. By choosing to focus on the controllables, to learn from the setback and to adapt as a result is the basis of becoming a more resilient runner and person in general. So if a setback happens on your journey towards your goal remember to focus on what you can control and choose a response that will help and not hinder you. Accept the setback and focus on the comeback!

Jessie Barr is a member of the Irish Life Dublin Marathon Runners’ Support Squad, helping you to harness the power of support to achieve your goals. Olympians Catherina McKiernan and Mick Clohisey who have developed training plans for all races in the series and the marathon using their vast expertise and knowledge. They are joined by nutritionist, Olivia Keenan, and physiotherapist Mark Kenneally. To find out more follow the Irish Life Dublin Marathon social media channels.