7 Mental Performance Tools for the Endurance Athlete, Recommended By An Expert
Summary
Mental performance and running are deeply connected, but the mental side is often the least trained. Ultra runner, psychotherapist, and certified mental performance consultant Neal Palles walks through the practical tools — self-talk, values work, choice points, and psychological flexibility — that help endurance athletes show up for the hard miles, ideally starting months before race day.
How much of running is mental? You've heard the answers — 80%, maybe even 90%. Whatever the number, almost every ultra runner agrees that the mind decides what the body finishes. The catch is that most of us spend our training hours building legs and lungs and rarely give the mental piece the same deliberate attention.
That's where Neal Palles comes in. Neal is a licensed clinical social worker with a dual degree in applied sports psychology and a certificate as a mental performance consultant. He's also an ultra runner, a road marathoner, and a coach for trail and ultra athletes through Carmichael Training Systems.
We sat down with Neal to talk about what mental training actually looks like and how runners at any distance can start building it now.
Already eyeing a goal race? Check out the Destination Trail race calendar and pick the one you want to train your mind for.
Why mental training matters more than runners think
When it comes to mental performance and running, the most common mistake Neal sees is treating mental skills like a switch you can flip on race morning. It isn’t that easy. Mental skills are like muscles. Without practice, the discomfort of mile 75 (or mile 175) does the deciding for you.
"We always hear that it's 80% mental, 90% mental," Neal says, "but no one trains the mental piece of it." Some of it comes organically from doing hard things in training. The rest has to be built deliberately, the same way runners now train their guts to handle gels mid-race. How much of running is mental really comes down to how much you've trained your mind.
"You’ve got to get your reps in," he says. "Otherwise, you're not progressing. So if I get people calling me a week before a race, requesting a session, usually it's not going to help, because they’re going to forget it on race day." Mental training six weeks out helps more. Six months out helps even more.
The earlier you start integrating these mental skills tools into everyday runs, the more confidence you'll carry to the start line. And confidence, Neal points out, isn't a prerequisite — it's a byproduct. "Confidence comes by taking action. You don't have to feel confident to do it."
Tool 1: Catch the automatic negative thoughts
Neal calls them ANTs — automatic negative thoughts. I can't do this. This hurts. Why did I sign up for this? They show up for everyone, from the back of the pack to the front leader.
The work isn't to push the thoughts away. If you push them down, they pop back up like a beach ball you're trying to submerge underwater. Instead, notice the thoughts, name them, and normalize them. Then respond with a constructive action you can actually take.
Tool 2: Build a self-talk strategy in advance
Once you've caught the negative thought, you need something to redirect to. That's where self-talk does the heavy lifting. Neal recommends two kinds:
Motivational self-talk — short phrases like I'm strong. I'm committed.
Instructional self-talk — task-focused cues like gel, water bottle, gel, water bottle.
The second category is what saves you when cognitive fatigue sets in and your brain can't hold complicated plans. "I'll say to myself, ‘Gel, water bottle, gel, water bottle.’ Really instructional. What are the actions I'm supposed to be doing?"
Whatever phrases you choose, practice them on training runs and take note of the motivational phrases you actually believe (they won’t work otherwise).
While motivational self-talk can come to you spontaneously, don’t count on it on race day. Like everything else in training, practicing helps a lot.
“That way, when race day comes, and the negative thoughts roll in, you’re ready to face them head-on, refocus, and keep moving.”
Tool 3: Get clear on your values and turn them into actions
Neal isn't a fan of relying on a single "why." A why is great until it isn't. "Sometimes that why doesn't hold up at mile 75 or 125 or 85, wherever you're at."
What does hold up is committed action tied to a personal value. Neal asks every athlete he works with to identify theirs, whether it’s adventure, curiosity, mastery, health and longevity, or connection. Then he reframes them as verbs. Not adventure, but being adventurous. Not curiosity, but being curious. That way, when the why fades, you still have something to do.
"What is being adventurous look like? It's me running along the trail, checking out the scenery, trying to figure out what's on the other side of that hill," Neal explains. When the why fades, the value can remain and keep you moving.
Tool 4: Use association and dissociation on purpose
Tuning out can be a tool, but so can tuning in. Neither is "right.” The trick is knowing when to use which.
When to use association (tuning in) — coming into aid stations, navigating technical sections, working through a body scan, pushing for a cutoff.
When to use dissociation (tuning out) — long non-technical stretches, music miles, casual conversation with another runner, thinking about pizza.
Both modes are useful skills, depending on where you’re at in the race.
A note from Neal on the social piece: running with people in a good headspace is one of the best forms of dissociation there is, but running near someone spiraling into negativity is one of the fastest ways to tank your own race. Neal's advice is direct: "Get away from them."
Tool 5: Practice committed action
When fatigue hits hard (let’s say, night two of a 240-mile race), your brain shifts into safety mode. Quitting starts to feel very rational.
Neal teaches a mental model he calls a "choice point." In the center are the sensations, thoughts, and emotions you're experiencing. Around them are two options: the away behavior (often quitting) and the committed action (one foot forward).
The sensations aren't controllable, but the behavior is. When you find yourself in this place, the choice is simply: am I going to act in alignment with the runner I said I wanted to be today?
Tool 6: Taper the mind, not just the legs
The week before a big race, your training load drops. Your mental stress load should drop, too.
Neal notices that successful athletes actively reduce cognitive load in the week leading up to the race. “I think this is a big thing that people miss, and I've clearly missed it plenty of times,” Neal cautions. “The week before, you're tapering not just your body, but your mind.”
Stress from life doesn’t magically disappear at the starting line. Whatever mental load you bring with you, you carry every mile. Drop your mental load by front-loading your logistics days ahead. A brain dump on paper clears out lingering worries and what-ifs, and stepping back from the doom scroll never hurt anyone.
Tool 7: Define your DNF points before you start
Mental tools help you keep going, but they shouldn't help you ignore a broken bone. One of the most common questions Neal gets is how to tell the difference between manageable pain and a real reason to stop. His answer: figure it out before the start.
"What is the limit? Broken ankle, broken femur. If I'm getting uber dizzy and it's not getting under control — what is the stopping point?"
Write those limits down. Knowing exactly what would warrant a drop in advance frees you up to push through everything else without quietly bargaining with your body for hours.
Why psychological flexibility beats mental toughness
A lot of runners come to Neal already steeped in the "tough it out" message. He gently pushes back. The problem with mental toughness as a framework is that it creates a binary: if I'm not tough, I'm weak. That's not a productive rabbit hole.
Psychological flexibility offers a different lane. The thoughts are normal. The discomfort is normal. You don't have to fight either — you just keep moving, in alignment with your values, and let the noise become background noise. "It's so stinking normal to feel this during an event like that," Neal says. "[That’s] what I like about these events … [they get] you to practice these skills on a high level."
He sums up his whole framework into what he calls the triflex: opening up to discomfort, doing what matters, and the mindful moment of being present without judgment.
When to start training your mind
The honest answer is now. The same way you wouldn't show up to a 200-miler having never trained your fueling, you don't want to show up having never trained your thinking. Build the skills into long runs. Practice the self-talk on the hard finish of an interval workout. Write down your values and your stopping points. Run with people who are doing the work too.
Mental performance and running aren't separate conversations. They're the same one, and the tools you build for one feed the other.
These skills don't just stay on the trail either, Neal says. "If we could learn to transfer it to our life and open up to that discomfort in life, then we can enjoy both."
Ready to put the work in? Browse the Destination Trail race calendar to find your next big effort and start training the mind that's going to carry you through it.
For deeper one-on-one work on mental performance, you can reach Neal directly through Colorado Psychotherapy and Sport Performance Performance or through @the.trail.mindset on Instagram. Based just outside Boulder, Neal works with mental health clients in Colorado and mental performance clients around the world, including runners preparing for 200-mile races.
