This is the third article in my series on unpacking what runners mean when they talk about “training load.” The first two articles covered physiological training load and biomechanical training load. Today, we will turn our attention to the fascinating, subjective, and little-studied topic of psychological training load.
What is psychological training load? Put briefly, psychological training load describes the mental and emotional effects of training—both in terms of your short-term cognitive state and your longer-term psychological orientation.
Proper psychological training load drives motivation: both in the short-term sense of ability to summon a maximal effort and endure fatigue in a workout or race, and the long-term ability to believe in yourself, believe in your training, and believe in what you can achieve.
This discussion is going to be much more philosophical than the previous two articles. We’ll cover the quantitative side first, but I’m much more interested in broader and more expansive views on athlete psychology than you typically see discussed in the scientific literature.
Tellingly, when you hear great coaches discuss their training approach, they often put quite a lot of emphasis on the psychological side of things.[1] My own experience is similar: much of the work I do as a coach is managing athlete psychology and mindset—figuring out how to do the workouts, as well as what workouts to do.
