“ It’ s kind of like having your own best friend in your head … now come on, just a little bit more.” That mindset, she believes, lies at the core of mental toughness.
“ When you come up against something that’ s difficult, have you trained your mind to think if I just keep doing certain things... I think that I’ ll get through in the end?”
Learning to suffer
At some point during Comrades, most runners enter what athletes call“ the pain cave” – the emotional and physical low where continuing feels almost impossible.
Van Heerden says these moments are inevitable.
“ It’ s a 90-kilometre race, it’ s an endurance race, it’ s tough.”
The challenge, she says, is making peace with suffering before the race even begins.
“ People always speak about being comfortable with being uncomfortable,” she says.“ You can’ t run Comrades unless you make peace with the fact that it’ s going to be physically challenging.”
That acceptance changes the relationship runners have with pain. Instead of seeing discomfort as a sign to stop, they begin seeing it as part of the experience they willingly signed up for.
“ And that’ s the point. It’ s a challenge for yourself … I know that becomes such a cliché, but it ' s so true. It ' s not something you have to do, but it ' s something that you want to challenge yourself to do.”
Van Heerden believes many runners draw strength during these difficult moments from imagining how they want to feel afterwards.
“ There ' s a wonderful sense of mastery at the end, isn ' t there? When you ' ve done something really physically hard.
“ You want to be able to talk to yourself in a particular way on the car ride home,” she says.“ To go‘ I’ m proud of myself. I kept on going even though it was difficult.’”
Why the crowds matter
One of the defining features of the Comrades Marathon is the incredible atmosphere generated by the crowds and the runners themselves. For Van Heerden, that support is psychologically powerful.
“ There’ s something really uplifting about knowing we’ re all in this,” she says.
Seeing other runners suffering alongside you creates a sense of shared struggle that can reduce stress and isolation.
“ Never underestimate the power of someone saying:‘ Hey, come, just a little bit more, let’ s just keep going a little bit more.’”
Interestingly, helping others can also improve a runner’ s own mental state.
“ When it is painful, actually being able to encourage someone else... you’ re distracting yourself a little bit from your own discomfort.“ There ' s something about that human connection that just reduces a bit of stress and helps you to keep going."
Sometimes, Van Heerden says, runners also need moments of mental escape. Rather than obsessing over pace and distance, they can briefly“ dissociate” by chatting to runners nearby, taking in the crowds or simply letting the mind wander.
“ It is almost like a little bit of a mental holiday.”
Trusting the work
While mental skills are important, Van Heerden insists they cannot be separated from physical preparation.
“ I wouldn’ t say that physical preparation is more important than mental preparation, I think they go hand in hand.”
Every early-morning run and difficult training session becomes evidence that a runner can cope when things get hard.
“ The preparation that you’ ve done feeds into the idea that you can trust yourself because you know you’ ve shown up.”
That trust becomes invaluable on race day when doubt inevitably creeps in.
Accepting the uncontrollable
As race day approaches, many runners become consumed by fears about illness, injury or weather conditions. Van Heerden says this anxiety often comes from focusing on things outside of their control.
“ We can’ t make ourselves not get sick,” she says.“ Yes, you can maybe wash your hands or stay away from big crowds of people, but worrying that you ' re going to get sick, we know doesn ' t make you not get sick.”
Instead, runners should focus on controllable factors such as training properly, resting, hydrating and preparing as best they can. Even the outcome itself is never guaranteed.“ You can’ t guarantee the finish, especially in an endurance race.”
That uncertainty is emotionally difficult, but Van Heerden believes accepting it protects runners from devastation if things go wrong.
It’ s a case of accepting:“ I can’ t guarantee that I’ m going to cross the line, but it’ s still a journey that I’ m willing to take.”
The emotional aftermath
Ironically, some runners struggle mentally most after the race is over.
Months of training create structure, routine and purpose. Once Comrades is finished, that suddenly disappears.
“ You can feel a bit like, oh, well what do I do with my time?” Van Heerden says.
She compares it to the emotional dip athletes sometimes experience after the Olympic Games. Without the constant focus of training, everyday life can briefly feel“ a little boring and weird and purposeless”.
Her advice is simple: allow yourself time and grace to adjust.
“ It’ s a perfect opportunity for athletes to go back to spending some time with friends and family. Doing some other things that they love that maybe they couldn ' t do while they were training for Comrades. Just a little bit of normality for a little bit.”
And eventually, like most endurance athletes, many runners begin searching for the next challenge.
* Those wanting to get in touch to book a consultation with Dr Kirsten van Heerden can do so at kirsten @ newtonagency. co. za
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