Word power

As she chugged up the mountain with a trainload of toys, the Little Blue Engine huffed and puffed and chanted the famous line: “I think I can, I think I can.”

The words somehow got the engine over the steep grade that had intimidated other much larger locomotives.

“Pretend you’re the little engine that could,” veteran runner Sylvia Quinn of Spokane often tells people new to the sport. “You have to take your mind off your body when things get tough. … If you can believe in yourself and stay positive, then you can overcome the obstacle.”

Mantra – the words or phrases people repeat in their heads or sometimes out loud to maintain focus – has long been a powerful tool for runners and others with the goal of crossing a finish line.

While training, it serves as a kind of mission statement, a justification for all those tedious, long runs and the track workouts that leave you gasping for air. While racing, it’s a way to stay centered despite the muscle cramps and exhaustion.

And for Bloomsday, a mantra just might give you enough motivation to ascend those daunting hills and push all the way to the end.

“Your self-talk has a huge influence on how you feel as an athlete,” said Jon Hammermeister, an exercise psychology professor at Eastern Washington University and consultant to Champion Sports Medicine in Spokane. “If you say, ‘I hate this, I want to stop,’ you’ll only compound your misery and slow down. … If you say, ‘I can do this, I feel good,’ then you’ll increase your chances of making it to the finish line.”

Something for everyone

Mantras vary, of course, depending on the runner and her or his motivations.

When Rachel Dibble of Colbert starts to feel her muscles tighten at about mile five of Bloomsday, she perks up with the words, “Pizza and beer! Pizza and beer!”

“It’s like a little reward,” said Dibble, 26 and a Corporate Cup participant who usually finishes in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. “Whenever I feel like giving up, I just think of the pizza and beer waiting for me at the end.”

Ken Briggs, an ultramarathoner and the president of the Bloomsday Road Runners Club, has several favorite mantras. During long runs in the winter, he keeps himself moving by thinking, “hot shower.” In the summers, the words of motivation become “dry martini.”

“Hard winter miles yield strong summer results” also is another useful mantra for the 55-year-old Briggs, whose personal record for Bloomsday is 53 minutes.

Some Bloomies, however, prefer to contemplate quotes from notable people for inspiration. Local runner Jan Kirk’s thoughts often turn to the words of Sohn Kee-chung, winner of the 1936 Olympic marathon: “The human body can do so much. Then the heart and spirit must take over.”

When climbing Doomsday Hill, Jim Hoppe ponders Neil Armstrong’s famous saying: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

“It usually feels like I’ve climbed at least halfway to the moon by the time I make it to the top of Doomsday Hill,” Hoppe said.

Quinn, 70 and a veteran of more than 60 marathons, immediately prays the rosary whenever she hits a rough patch during a race. In fact, it’s often the Hail Marys that propel her to the top of the infamous hill at Bloomsday.

“If you use a mantra at the bottom of the hill and keep your eyes down, that hill will go away,” said Quinn, who usually finishes Bloomsday in an hour or less – well ahead of many who are half her age. “It’s not only physical, but mental. You have to convince yourself that you can do it.”

Staying positive is key, said James Hicks of Spokane, who once tipped the scales at nearly 600 pounds but has since lost 400 to compete in Ironman, marathons and other competitions. “Mantras are important – anyone who’s thinking of racing needs to find out what their mantra should be,” he said. “Always make it positive because the negative stuff can be damaging.”

During races like Bloomsday, Hicks gets his spirits up by telling himself, “You can do it, you can do it,” as he reels other runners in. Once he passes them, he says, “Thank you,” “Good job,” or “Thanks for inspiring me.”

Then he repeats those words to himself along with another mantra: “Congratulations.”

“I’m always thankful,” said Hicks, who plans to do the Bloomsday course twice this year – once as a Corporate Cup runner and a second time while walking with his family. “Whenever I run, I am completely amazed that I’m even doing it.”

All in the timing

In addition to positive self-talk, many endurance athletes use a common technique that entails attaching a word or syllable to each exhalation of the breath, said Hammermeister, who works with a lot of elite athletes and who also has completed 11 Ironman races. “I – can – do – this,” for instance. Or “I – feel – good.”

“Focusing on your breath brings you back to the moment,” he said. “When you’re in the moment, you’re fine. When your mind goes 10 minutes ahead or 10 minutes behind – that’s what gets you in trouble … It’s like that in everyday life, too.”

A mantra helps regulate breathing, which then helps the body relax, said Mary Green, an instructor at Radha Yoga Center in Spokane. It can calm a person who’s scared or in pain by giving the mind a more positive focus, she said.

Runners and other athletes often use different mantras depending on the race and the conditions, said Hammermeister. At the Bloomsday starting line, where thousands of people crowd into a small area, it might help to use phrases that bring about a sense of calm and relaxation, he suggested. Later in the race, you might need the opposite, he advised. At that point, “Go!” “Run!” “Blast off!” and other punchy words that evoke power are often needed for speed and a strong finish.

Mantras also depend on an athlete’s situation in life, according to many longtime runners.

When Bloomsday founder Don Kardong competed against the world’s best marathoners at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, his mantra was “relax and fast.” The words kept him from tensing his jaw, shoulders and hands while maintaining the necessary speed to pull off a 2:11 marathon. These days, his mantra has evolved into “Relax, don’t pull,” a message directed at his muscles so that they won’t tweak during a race.

Stay positive

Sports psychologists usually discourage athletes from using negative thoughts as mantras, but Tom Cameron, who’s in charge of the wheelchair division at Bloomsday, discovered it actually worked for him one year.

In 1986, after going through a divorce, Cameron didn’t think he had it in him to get through Bloomsday. Although he trained by running 35 to 40 miles a week, he found himself emotionally drained. He had given up long before the race started when he was suddenly confronted by a friend, wheelchair racer Rafael Ibarra. “I expect you to do a PR (personal record) tomorrow,” Ibarra said, looking him in the eye and pointing a finger in Cameron’s face.

During the race the following morning, Cameron kept that image of Ibarra in his mind and told himself, “I don’t know if I can do this.” He kept repeating the words in his head as he forged on. When he looked up at the clock after crossing the finish line, he noticed the time: 57:17 – his best Bloomsday time, ever.

“It’s a personal mantra,” said Cameron, recalling the defining moment about halfway up Doomsday Hill. “It certainly worked that time. If I hadn’t had some sort of outside motivation – something beyond me – I don’t think I could have done it.”

While serious about their training, most runners are able to maintain a sense of humor when it comes to their running mantras.

Peter Breach of Spokane uses the words “relax, turnover” to maintain form and pace during long-distance racing, but the mantra that keeps him positive during the early stages of marathons and ultramarathons often makes people smile: “Taco’s in the bank, baby!”

“Although I’ve never eaten at Taco Bell and have the lifelong goal of never doing so, that easy-going dog seems to offer a nice phrase and a meal in itself, if need be,” said Breach, 42. “Humor helps.”

For Bloomsday, which he expects to finish in approximately 53 minutes, his mantra is much simpler: “Beat Don,” referring to his friend, Don Kardong.

These days, Lorree K. Tachell’s mantra is “You may be slow, but you can do this.”

“It significantly beats my old one of ‘What in the world were you thinking when signed up for this?’ ” she said.

The mantra gives her a mental boost, said Tachell, who takes pride in the fact that she always finishes a race. The phrase also came in handy during last year’s Las Vegas half-marathon as she battled 30-mile-per-hour headwinds. “There was also the challenge of the smell as the course ran on Industrial Street behind the hotels – and don’t even ask about running by the strip clubs,” she said. “It was a race that I just wanted to get done and fly home!”

A cofounder of the local Sunday Slugs running group, Tachell plans on using her mantra to get her through the hills, especially the one by the cemetery.

“As my training has been less than spectacular this year,” she said, “I will definitely be mumbling many things under my breath including the mantra.”

And just like the Little Blue Engine, the words will help her and many others get over the hump.