28. How To Stay in Control When Cutoff Fear Hits
When you’re worried you won’t make cutoff, it fundamentally changes how you race. You stop making strategic decisions and start reacting instead - like by rushing through aid stations without getting what you need. The fear overwhelms your self-control until you're no longer running your race. You're running cutoff's race.
In this episode, I'll share the three-question strategy that's helped me through countless tight cutoff situations, including making a critical cutoff at Massanutten 100 with just 15 minutes to spare. These questions work because they redirect your mind from catastrophizing to concrete actions you can control right now.
Instead of fixating on whether you'll make cutoff, you'll focus on running efficiently, managing your effort sustainably, and executing your race with everything you've got - giving you the clarity and control to reach the finish line running what you're capable of.
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What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
Why cutoff fear causes you to abandon your race plan and stop making strategic decisions.
The reason fighting cutoff fear or pretending it doesn't exist actually makes the problem worse.
How cognitive redirection through smart questions gives your brain something productive to focus on.
The difference between running fast and running efficiently.
Why running "your best" isn't about speed but about the quality of effort you bring.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
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Full Episode Transcript:
You're pushing into an aid station way closer to cutoff than you want. Cutoff fear has been growing the entire race. The further you go, the louder it gets. The louder it gets, the more you started reacting, rushing, panicking, abandoning your plan until you're no longer running your race; you're running cutoff's race. There's a better way, and it starts with three questions.
Welcome to Unstoppable Ultra Runner, the podcast for ultra runners who refuse to let anything hold them back. I’m your host, Susan Donnelly, veteran of over 150 100-mile races, and a coach who helps runners like you break through mental roadblocks, push past doubt, and run with confidence. Let’s go.
Welcome to episode 28. I have a vivid memory of the Massanutten 100 a few years ago, working hard to get from the 50 to the 54-mile aid station ahead of cutoff. That year, I knew staying ahead of cutoff would be a challenge, and I'd planned for it. But once I was in the race, a race I really care about, the pressure was intense and, of course, unescapable.
And missing cutoff wasn't an unfounded fear. By this point in the race, 50 miles, I'd already skimmed through several aid stations way closer than I wanted to be. And cutoff fear and worry can wear you down.
So I came into the 50-mile aid station at Indian Grave ahead of cutoff, but closer than I wanted to be, and I knew the next aid station at 54 miles, Habron Gap, would be tight, and it was getting dark.
After 50 miles of running close to cutoff, I really wanted a break. I just wanted to relax for a section or at least relax my attention. But that was the last thing I could afford to do. This cutoff was tight. And the 4 miles between here and there was also not my forte. It was gravel road, which can be mentally defeating to me. Everybody's got their thing.
So I dreaded having to push through that section with cutoff breathing down my neck. After dealing with cutoff stress the whole race, it would have been easy to get worn out from the relentless pressure and just be over it, to give up and just shuffle and walk it in in frustration. But I pulled up the strategy that had been helping me the whole race, one that has served me beautifully over the years, and I made it count. And I'm going to share that strategy with you.
But to understand why it works, you need to know the real problem behind the cutoff stress. So look, if cutoff is tight, the fear is just going to be there. That's normal because missing cutoff means we don't finish. But once you're in the race and cutoff shifts from this abstract worry to real threat, that fear can overwhelm you. And when it does, here's what happens: you lose control of your race.The fear overwhelms your self-control. You stop making decisions and start reacting instead.
Here are some examples: take aid stations. You rush through them, focused on getting out as fast as you can instead of getting what you need. So you forget things, and you miss things. Your pace: you panic and sprint as fast as you can to try and make time, then exhaust yourself and have to power hike instead of just running your fastest sustainable pace at a more even level of effort.
And eating and drinking. You completely forget to take care of it because you're focused exclusively on being as fast as you can. So you can't remember the last time you ate or drank or how much. I've had several clients with this issue because it's incredibly common.
And the result of all of this? You end up with a race you're not proud of. You're frustrated, maybe angry at yourself because you know you had more in you. You just couldn't access it because you didn't run your race; you ran cutoff's race. Cutoff told you when to panic and when to sprint and when to give up on your plan. You weren't in charge; cutoff fear was.
This happens because cutoff is a threat, and threats trigger survival mode. Your brain doesn't care about your race plan when it thinks you're about to fail. It just wants you to react. Fight or flight, do something now. So that's what you do. You react. You make fear-driven decisions instead of strategic ones. And by the time you realize what's happening, the fear has been running your race for miles, maybe even hours.
So, in a race where you feel cutoff stress growing and you think you're about to spiral out in it, you need a way to stay in control. But what we often do doesn't work.
For example, needing the fear to go away, needing to make that go away doesn't work. You're in the middle of it, and it's not likely that you can instantaneously create the comfortable cushion on cutoff that you so desperately want. In fact, the easiest, most accessible way to permanently stop the fear in the middle of a race, and the solution you're maybe likely to gravitate to, is to drop. Once you drop, you don't have to worry about the cutoff stress anymore. It's no longer a threat, but your race is over.
What also doesn't work is pretending you don't feel the fear. That does the opposite. It keeps your mind focused on it. I don't feel it is like telling yourself, I don't have the image of a pink elephant in my mind. It creates the thought and even the mental picture in your head of you missing cutoff. So in short, fighting the fear doesn't work.
So instead of fighting the fear, what you need is a way to focus your mind in a more helpful direction. And one of the best ways to do that, one of the easiest ways, is with smart questions.
Here's why questions work. Your brain genuinely can't focus on two competing thoughts at the same time. When you ask yourself a question, your brain has to start finding the answer. It's not optional. It's how your brain is wired. It's called cognitive redirection, and it works because questions demand your brain's attention and processing power.
Smart questions use this in two ways for you. First, you need to know the answer to these questions for practical reasons. You actually need to know the answer. But second, and just as important, they give your mind something more productive and helpful to do than fixate on cutoff and fear.
Your mind is a problem-solving machine. It's constantly seeking answers to whatever questions you're asking, consciously or not. The problem is when you're in fear mode, the question you're asking is, "Am I going to miss cutoff?" And it keeps running scenarios, calculating times, making you do ultra math, amplifying the threat. That's your brain trying to protect you, but it's not helping you run.
And here's one more thing: you've probably heard that you just need to stay present in a race, and while that's true, it's hard to do as a concept. These questions do that for you. They focus you on the process of getting to the finish line, on what's happening right now instead of dwelling ahead on the possibility you dread of missing cutoff.
All right. I'm going to give you these three questions. You don't need to use all three. You can, but even one is enough. I'm just giving you three options. So pick a favorite or the one you remember best and use that one. And this is important: don't think you can or should only ask the question once. Ask it as many times as you need in a race. Make it a touchstone that you ask anytime you feel cutoff fear starting to build.
First question: What few things do I need to focus on to run my strongest right now in a way that's sustainable for the race? It's probably hydration, fuel, and pace. That's it. Three things. So when the fear hits, answering that question redirects your mind into more helpful territory. Am I drinking enough? When's my next gel? Is this pace sustainable? Simple answers, simple actions, and suddenly your mind has something concrete and helpful to work on instead of catastrophizing about cutoff.
Here's the second question: How can I run most efficiently right now? Notice I said efficiently, not fastest. I used that word for a reason because there's a difference.
Efficient means are you running everything you can, or are you walking sections that you could trot? Are you running that extra 20 feet up the hill before you power walk or giving up early? Are you eating while moving or stopping every time you need to fuel? Are you holding a strong, sustainable pace, or are you pushing too hard, blowing up, walking, and then repeating that exhausting, frustrating cycle?
Efficiency is about smart energy management. It's about getting the most forward progress with the least wasted effort.
Here's the third question: What does running my best look like right now? Not your fastest, your best. And here's what I mean by that: your best is about quality of effort that you're bringing to it. Are you running with belief, with determination, with everything you've got? Or are you holding back, trying to conserve, playing it safe, giving up, quiet quitting?
Your best means that you're not leaving anything on the table. If there's effort or fierceness or daring that you're not bringing to this moment, bring it now. Because running your best, truly giving it everything, gives you a clean conscience. There's no doubting or no excuses while you're running, no, "Could I be doing more?" It clears your mind, and that mental sureness calms you down and keeps you in control of your race.
All right. Back at Massanutten, those questions helped me see how to push through the next 4 miles. Instead of my mind just screaming incessantly that I needed to make cutoff because of course I did, these questions showed me how to do that, and they kept me calm and focused on what I could actually do: moving efficiently, managing my energy, and executing my race.
They simplified everything. I didn't have to obsess over whether I'd make cutoff. I just had to focus on how to move through these miles with the best energy I could bring. And that clarity, that simplification, kept me calm and in control.That's the difference. And I made the cutoff at Habron Gap with 15 minutes to spare and went on to finish the race for my 20th finish.
When you use these questions, everything changes. The fear is still there, but it's not running your race anymore. You are. You stay focused. You stay in control even when things are tight, even when the fear is loud. The questions keep pulling you back to what you can actually do and actually need to focus on: pace, fuel, moving efficiently, the things that will get you to the finish line.
And you do get there, running what you're capable of instead of what fear tells you is possible. That's the difference. And you can come out of that race stronger, more confident because you proved you can handle cutoff pressure without falling apart.
So the next time cutoff fear floods in, you aren't defenseless against it. Use these questions and you have a way to stay focused, to stay in control, and to run your own race because that's what you came here to do: not to survive cutoff, to run what you're capable of. And when that fear shows up, you won't be running cutoff's race anymore; you'll be running your own.
All right, you all, that's this week's episode. If you know someone who could use this, share it with them. It might be exactly what they need to hear. And make sure you come back next week for part two, where I'll be diving deeper into cutoff stress and the surprising way you can be unconsciously aiming at the very thing you're trying to avoid. See you all next week. Bye. .
Thanks for listening to Unstoppable Ultra Runner. If you want more ultra talk, mindset tools, and strategies for running with confidence, visit www.susanidonnelly.com. This podcast receives production support from the team at Digital Freedom Productions. That’s it for today’s episode. See you next week.
Welcome to Unstoppable Ultra Runner, the podcast for ultra runners who refuse to let anything hold them back. I’m your host, Susan Donnelly, veteran of over 150 100-mile races, and a coach who helps runners like you break through mental roadblocks, push past doubt, and run with confidence. Let’s go.
Welcome to episode 28. I have a vivid memory of the Massanutten 100 a few years ago, working hard to get from the 50 to the 54-mile aid station ahead of cutoff. That year, I knew staying ahead of cutoff would be a challenge, and I'd planned for it. But once I was in the race, a race I really care about, the pressure was intense and, of course, unescapable.
And missing cutoff wasn't an unfounded fear. By this point in the race, 50 miles, I'd already skimmed through several aid stations way closer than I wanted to be. And cutoff fear and worry can wear you down.
So I came into the 50-mile aid station at Indian Grave ahead of cutoff, but closer than I wanted to be, and I knew the next aid station at 54 miles, Habron Gap, would be tight, and it was getting dark.
After 50 miles of running close to cutoff, I really wanted a break. I just wanted to relax for a section or at least relax my attention. But that was the last thing I could afford to do. This cutoff was tight. And the 4 miles between here and there was also not my forte. It was gravel road, which can be mentally defeating to me. Everybody's got their thing.
So I dreaded having to push through that section with cutoff breathing down my neck. After dealing with cutoff stress the whole race, it would have been easy to get worn out from the relentless pressure and just be over it, to give up and just shuffle and walk it in in frustration. But I pulled up the strategy that had been helping me the whole race, one that has served me beautifully over the years, and I made it count. And I'm going to share that strategy with you.
But to understand why it works, you need to know the real problem behind the cutoff stress. So look, if cutoff is tight, the fear is just going to be there. That's normal because missing cutoff means we don't finish. But once you're in the race and cutoff shifts from this abstract worry to real threat, that fear can overwhelm you. And when it does, here's what happens: you lose control of your race.The fear overwhelms your self-control. You stop making decisions and start reacting instead.
Here are some examples: take aid stations. You rush through them, focused on getting out as fast as you can instead of getting what you need. So you forget things, and you miss things. Your pace: you panic and sprint as fast as you can to try and make time, then exhaust yourself and have to power hike instead of just running your fastest sustainable pace at a more even level of effort.
And eating and drinking. You completely forget to take care of it because you're focused exclusively on being as fast as you can. So you can't remember the last time you ate or drank or how much. I've had several clients with this issue because it's incredibly common.
And the result of all of this? You end up with a race you're not proud of. You're frustrated, maybe angry at yourself because you know you had more in you. You just couldn't access it because you didn't run your race; you ran cutoff's race. Cutoff told you when to panic and when to sprint and when to give up on your plan. You weren't in charge; cutoff fear was.
This happens because cutoff is a threat, and threats trigger survival mode. Your brain doesn't care about your race plan when it thinks you're about to fail. It just wants you to react. Fight or flight, do something now. So that's what you do. You react. You make fear-driven decisions instead of strategic ones. And by the time you realize what's happening, the fear has been running your race for miles, maybe even hours.
So, in a race where you feel cutoff stress growing and you think you're about to spiral out in it, you need a way to stay in control. But what we often do doesn't work.
For example, needing the fear to go away, needing to make that go away doesn't work. You're in the middle of it, and it's not likely that you can instantaneously create the comfortable cushion on cutoff that you so desperately want. In fact, the easiest, most accessible way to permanently stop the fear in the middle of a race, and the solution you're maybe likely to gravitate to, is to drop. Once you drop, you don't have to worry about the cutoff stress anymore. It's no longer a threat, but your race is over.
What also doesn't work is pretending you don't feel the fear. That does the opposite. It keeps your mind focused on it. I don't feel it is like telling yourself, I don't have the image of a pink elephant in my mind. It creates the thought and even the mental picture in your head of you missing cutoff. So in short, fighting the fear doesn't work.
So instead of fighting the fear, what you need is a way to focus your mind in a more helpful direction. And one of the best ways to do that, one of the easiest ways, is with smart questions.
Here's why questions work. Your brain genuinely can't focus on two competing thoughts at the same time. When you ask yourself a question, your brain has to start finding the answer. It's not optional. It's how your brain is wired. It's called cognitive redirection, and it works because questions demand your brain's attention and processing power.
Smart questions use this in two ways for you. First, you need to know the answer to these questions for practical reasons. You actually need to know the answer. But second, and just as important, they give your mind something more productive and helpful to do than fixate on cutoff and fear.
Your mind is a problem-solving machine. It's constantly seeking answers to whatever questions you're asking, consciously or not. The problem is when you're in fear mode, the question you're asking is, "Am I going to miss cutoff?" And it keeps running scenarios, calculating times, making you do ultra math, amplifying the threat. That's your brain trying to protect you, but it's not helping you run.
And here's one more thing: you've probably heard that you just need to stay present in a race, and while that's true, it's hard to do as a concept. These questions do that for you. They focus you on the process of getting to the finish line, on what's happening right now instead of dwelling ahead on the possibility you dread of missing cutoff.
All right. I'm going to give you these three questions. You don't need to use all three. You can, but even one is enough. I'm just giving you three options. So pick a favorite or the one you remember best and use that one. And this is important: don't think you can or should only ask the question once. Ask it as many times as you need in a race. Make it a touchstone that you ask anytime you feel cutoff fear starting to build.
First question: What few things do I need to focus on to run my strongest right now in a way that's sustainable for the race? It's probably hydration, fuel, and pace. That's it. Three things. So when the fear hits, answering that question redirects your mind into more helpful territory. Am I drinking enough? When's my next gel? Is this pace sustainable? Simple answers, simple actions, and suddenly your mind has something concrete and helpful to work on instead of catastrophizing about cutoff.
Here's the second question: How can I run most efficiently right now? Notice I said efficiently, not fastest. I used that word for a reason because there's a difference.
Efficient means are you running everything you can, or are you walking sections that you could trot? Are you running that extra 20 feet up the hill before you power walk or giving up early? Are you eating while moving or stopping every time you need to fuel? Are you holding a strong, sustainable pace, or are you pushing too hard, blowing up, walking, and then repeating that exhausting, frustrating cycle?
Efficiency is about smart energy management. It's about getting the most forward progress with the least wasted effort.
Here's the third question: What does running my best look like right now? Not your fastest, your best. And here's what I mean by that: your best is about quality of effort that you're bringing to it. Are you running with belief, with determination, with everything you've got? Or are you holding back, trying to conserve, playing it safe, giving up, quiet quitting?
Your best means that you're not leaving anything on the table. If there's effort or fierceness or daring that you're not bringing to this moment, bring it now. Because running your best, truly giving it everything, gives you a clean conscience. There's no doubting or no excuses while you're running, no, "Could I be doing more?" It clears your mind, and that mental sureness calms you down and keeps you in control of your race.
All right. Back at Massanutten, those questions helped me see how to push through the next 4 miles. Instead of my mind just screaming incessantly that I needed to make cutoff because of course I did, these questions showed me how to do that, and they kept me calm and focused on what I could actually do: moving efficiently, managing my energy, and executing my race.
They simplified everything. I didn't have to obsess over whether I'd make cutoff. I just had to focus on how to move through these miles with the best energy I could bring. And that clarity, that simplification, kept me calm and in control.That's the difference. And I made the cutoff at Habron Gap with 15 minutes to spare and went on to finish the race for my 20th finish.
When you use these questions, everything changes. The fear is still there, but it's not running your race anymore. You are. You stay focused. You stay in control even when things are tight, even when the fear is loud. The questions keep pulling you back to what you can actually do and actually need to focus on: pace, fuel, moving efficiently, the things that will get you to the finish line.
And you do get there, running what you're capable of instead of what fear tells you is possible. That's the difference. And you can come out of that race stronger, more confident because you proved you can handle cutoff pressure without falling apart.
So the next time cutoff fear floods in, you aren't defenseless against it. Use these questions and you have a way to stay focused, to stay in control, and to run your own race because that's what you came here to do: not to survive cutoff, to run what you're capable of. And when that fear shows up, you won't be running cutoff's race anymore; you'll be running your own.
All right, you all, that's this week's episode. If you know someone who could use this, share it with them. It might be exactly what they need to hear. And make sure you come back next week for part two, where I'll be diving deeper into cutoff stress and the surprising way you can be unconsciously aiming at the very thing you're trying to avoid. See you all next week. Bye. .
Thanks for listening to Unstoppable Ultra Runner. If you want more ultra talk, mindset tools, and strategies for running with confidence, visit www.susanidonnelly.com. This podcast receives production support from the team at Digital Freedom Productions. That’s it for today’s episode. See you next week.
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