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Category: 100 Miler

ANTs in Ultra Running

ANTs in Ultra Running

Published by Patrick Durante on February 7, 2025

Automatic Negative Thoughts, or ANTs, play a significant role in ultra running. These thoughts often invade your mind when a race becomes challenging and things aren’t going as expected. They surface when the going gets tough, and your body amplifies their effects by fostering a negative attitude toward the race. But why does this happen?

The mind is inherently predisposed to think and predict, often anticipating worse conditions due to its negative bias. Once it sets on this track, it perpetuates a negative spiral, consistently fueling the fire. Here are some tips and tricks I use to manage these thoughts, which you can also apply to your next event.

ANTs don’t bother this dude at all.

Our minds tend to follow thought processes to their conclusion, often seeking problems even when there are none if that’s how we’ve trained them to behave. The principle is that our thoughts and actions reflect what we repeatedly do; if negativity dominates your mindset, negative thoughts, regardless of their truth, will invade your mind. We often overlook how much more attention our minds give to negative emotions compared to positive ones. This is similar to the news mantra “if it bleeds, it leads,” driven by our innate focus on survival. The mind aims to identify dangers and draw attention to them, a necessity in our evolutionary past. Like prey animals constantly scanning for predators, we become alert, jumpy, and quick to perceive threats everywhere.

I coached the predator to his first 100 mile success. True story.

In contrast, predators move with calculated precision, focusing solely on necessary actions without entertaining doubt. The idea is that those who proceed more deliberately make fewer mistakes, staying fixated on their targets and preventing doubt from creeping in. This focus is key to defeating ANTs. Just as a lion locks onto its prey, you must concentrate on your targets. But instead of fixating on the distant finish line, focus on eliminating ANTs by keeping your goals within reach. In a previous post, I mentioned adopting the mantra “feet over finish” to maintain my focus on achievable targets, not just the distant objective of the finish line.

The predator as a trail runner. He would be a BEAST!

My immediate targets include managing my calorie intake, pace, and running form. These are my close “prey,” things within my control and focus. ANTs have no room in my mind when it’s preoccupied with something else. They emerge when attention drifts and pain escalates. During a long race, your brain perceives your actions as a threat to its well-being. It defaults to safety and ease, deploying ANTs—fear, doubt, self-deprecation—as its primary weapons. “I suck,” “I’m too slow,” “I’m not good enough”—these are the whispers of a brain desperate to return to Netflix and comfort.

This is the where you must slow down, think strategically, acknowledge negative thoughts, and move past them. Employ the OODA loop—a decision-making model created by US Air Force Colonel John Boyd to aid fighter pilots in making quick decisions in combat.

The OODA Loop:

Observe: Gather information about your situation.

Orient: Align with reality by analyzing your assumptions and biases.

Decide: Make informed decisions based on your observations and analyses.

Act: Implement your decisions.

Why is the OODA Loop Useful?

The OODA loop aids in making swift and precise decisions in uncertain environments, leveraging agility over sheer power.

Your personal OODA loop might be: focus on feet, calories, form, hydration, and posture—stand tall, maintain a quick cadence, breathe, and relax. Run for 20-30 minutes, then reset and repeat: focus on feet, calories, form, hydration. This loop helps you push through the race free from fear and ANTs, maintaining focus until you finish.

Thanks for reading.  This was one of my random thoughts I had after listening to a podcast.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  

Thanks for reading!

Overcome Negative thoughts in Ultras with an “Ultra Inventory”

Overcome Negative thoughts in Ultras with an “Ultra Inventory”

Published by Patrick Durante on November 2, 2024

My brain, like yours, is a prediction machine that’s always focusing on the dangers ahead. It’s able to create entire scenarios that may or may not happen. It does this over and over again, hundreds of times a day, and sometimes negatively. Like that scary sound you heard in the dark while running in the woods? That’s a goddamn bear about to eat you!

To your mind, every sound is a bear about to pounce!

In an ultra, the typical conversation goes like this in your mind: “You’re going too fast.” “You’re going too slow.” “You’re not fast enough.” “You’re walking too much.” Constantly in negative chatter. It predicts some of the worst scenarios that someone could imagine. Where the voices are hard to quiet. I have a solution to this that’s pretty simple to execute below called the “Ultra Inventory.”

Your mental baggage stays with you during the entire race…

It’s the default action of our brains; they are machines purpose-built with a single goal: identify problems and keep you alive. This is part of the mental side of ultras. People say that it’s all mental, but what does that actually mean? It means that it’s a battle between the part of your brain that wants to protect you and the one that wants to see you achieve. To your brain, the race is the bear chasing you that’s about to eat you. It will throws doubt to protect your survival. It’s constant mental curve balls to force you to stop!

“Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life.”

My trick is to perform the “Ultra Inventory.” This forces your prediction machine to focus on what you can control vs. the fears you can’t. Starting from head to toe, you do an inventory every 30 minutes. (Set a repeating timer on your phone or watch to achieve this and force focus back to the controllable.)

Keep checking your mental inventory every 30 minutes from top to bottom.

Ultra Inventory – Head to Toe

Head – Am I thinking positively? If not, why? Overheating? Wet my hat or ask for ice at the next aid station. Negative thoughts are a cancer that grows. Change your thoughts, change your world!

Nose – Breathing through the nose. Why? It humidifies, filters, and warms the air. It improves oxygen uptake. It enhances nitric oxide production, which helps to open the airways and improve blood flow. It also reduces hyperventilation.

Chest – Are my clothes too wet or my vest too tight? Am I overheating or too cold? Should I shed or add layers? Do my clothes feel sweaty? Am I standing tall, not slouching? Am I breathing deep and steady into my belly vs. shallow breathing?

Waist / Stomach – If it’s been 30 minutes, eat something. Calorie check-in? Salt? Caffeine needed? Hydration status: Am I drinking enough water? How does my stomach feel: Bloating or GI distress? Let me slow down to aid digestion.

Groin / Butt – Am I peeing clear? Is anti-chafe cream needed?

Legs – Is my pace too fast? Is my cadence high? Am I driving with my knees during my stride? Is anything tight? Change stride to fix pain?

Feet – Are there hot spots? Are my feet too wet? Is it time for a sock or shoe change?

You are keeping your mind busy and preventing issues that could grow into larger problems.

Do this EVERY 30 minutes OR at aid stations. Food is needed every 30 minutes, if not hydration until the end of the race. This process forces you to break mental chatter and bring attention to the current moment. Focus on items you can control vs. those you cannot. I wrote before about how in life, you control limited aspects. In an ultras, there are a few things you can and should control.

If you’ve ever left kids unsupervised, you know they come up with destructive or dangerous games. However, when you provide them with alternatives, they tend to behave more responsibly. As the saying goes, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Direct your mind toward constructive thoughts. Don’t let it wander! Try this in your next race and let me know the results.

Thanks for reading! Interested in coaching for your next ultra event? Find out more info at https://ultraruncoach.com