Should You Count Miles Up or Down (It Matters More Than You Think)

You get discouraged in the middle, boring miles of a race because, “I have soooo far to go.”

Or you freak out in the later miles of the race because, “That number is too big - I can’t have run that many miles.”

Neither one of these helps your race. One discourages you from going on. The other scares you into bailing because it’s too big.

As small as it seems, how you count mileage matters.

Thinking about how many you have left to go can defeat you. And thinking about how many you've accumulated can scare you.

Both can make you quit a race you’re capable of finishing.

So, which way should you count?

Both, just not at the same time.

For most of a race - including those middle boring miles - it’s generally stronger to think of the miles you've gained than the distance you have left to go.

In other words, the gain, not the gap.

But that only works until you hit your freak-out threshold.

The freak-out threshold is the number at which your mileage feels too big, like something that isn't possible for someone like you. You can't believe you, normal non-elite runner you, have run that many miles.

I’ve seen it happen with runners who were strong, well-trained, and on track to finish. It happened to me when I started running 100s - when I learned that my mind mattered as much as my body in a race.

What’s happening here is cognitive dissonance. The number doesn't match what you believe about yourself, and your mind has to resolve the difference. So you self-sabotage and drop because “that's enough.”

It’s another example of why your mind matters as much as your body in a race.

When you get here, the solution is to switch to counting down the mileage you have left to your goal. Because this number is smaller and much more tangible to you.

Where that switch happens is different for everyone, and finding it is part of the work I do with clients. It can be different for the course and the type of race, fixed distance or fixed time.

For me in a generic 100, it's usually 80 miles/20 miles. For clients, it's been 95/5, 50/50, or 75/25. One client on a loop course switched at three laps out of five, with two to go. Another, in a timed race, switched at 10 hours, with 2 left.

There's no right answer, just your decision.

An insignificant-feeling decision, but this alone can affect the outcome of your race.

That's why I have my clients make this decision now, before the race, while it's easier to make a rational decision that's going to get them to their goal. Not at mile 80, with an exhausted brain.

And how you count your miles is just one decision like this. There are so many that need to be made before a race, and most runners don't know they need to make them until they're in the middle of it. I help my clients find these and make their decisions ahead of time, so when the hard miles come, the decision is already made.

However you decide this one, decide before you go into your next race. Because at mile 80, how you think about the number can decide your race.