Arguably one of the most important components of success in distance running (or in life for that matter) is belief in yourself. When reporters ask elite athletes why they were successful in given competitions I so often hear something like "I just believed in myself and knew that I could do it". While it is easy to say this, it is entirely different to actually BELIEVE that you do have the ability to do something. So where does belief come from? For example, after Matt Tegenkamp broke 13 minutes for 5000 meters, he talked about the confidence he had in his abilities to do so (http://www.flotrack.org/videos/speaker/58-matt-tegenkamp/200385-matt-tegenkamp-after-1258-in-brussels). What may have given him this knowledge and the belief in himself necessary to break 13 minutes?

Confidence in specific activities is known as self-efficacy, which is a type of self-confidence that helps an individual to believe that they can achieve a desired outcome (Bandura, 1977). Efficacy is situation-specific and is not the same as a generalized sense of confidence. For example, Tegenkamp talks about how he thought he could break 13 in the 5k, but he probably didn't have similar confidence that he could break 2:07 in the marathon on the same day with the same training. Self-efficacy is largely established via five means (Gill & Williams, 2008). The items at the top of the list have been found to have a greater impact on self-efficacy than items at the bottom of the list.

Performance Accomplishments

Quite obviously, performing well in an activity related to the task in question will raise levels of self-efficacy. Tegenkamp's past performances in races and workouts probably impacted his confidence and the belief that he could break 13 minutes. Yet simply performing well does not insure a positive increase in self-efficacy. An individual must perform well and perceive that performance to be good if self-efficacy is to improve. So if John Doe ran a 5k in 13:40 but did not think this was a good performance, self-efficacy would not improve. Yet if Jim Doe ran a 5k in 15:40 and perceived this to be a good performance, his self-efficacy would increase. Also pretend that John is a professional runner and Jim is a small school collegiate runner. Note that self-efficacy is also situation-specific, so John may have high self-efficacy if he were ever to race Jim, even though John does not have high self-efficacy based on his time in the normal situations he is in.

Vicarious Experiences

This factor involves watching someone else accomplish the goal, also known as modeling. Studies have shown this effective, particularly when the model is like the individual watching the action (George, Feltz, & Chase, 1992). This may have had a particularly strong impact on Tegenkamp since Dathan Ritzenhien was able to break 13 minutes shortly before he did. You may also recall that John Landy was able break 4 minutes in the mile and Roger Bannister's world record a mere 46 days after Bannister broke 4 minutes for the first time. The influence of this factor is based on the degree to which you identify with the model. So if our Jim Doe wants to run faster than 15:40, seeing his training partner Joey Doe run 15:25 would have a stronger impact on self-efficacy than would seeing a competitor from another school run 15:25.

Verbal Persuasion

Comments from coaches, teammates, or loved ones such as "you have talent" or "I know you can do this" can also impact self-efficacy. These words may mean more when they come from someone who understands distance running, such as a coach, as opposed to a friend who may know very little about distance running and racing. One can also verbally persuade themselves with self-talk (think Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live). Our Jim Doe may tell himself "I CAN run 15:25" or "I have talent" and Jim can start to persuade himself that these things are true (I will discuss self-talk and thought-stopping in greater detail in a future column).

Imagery

Visualizing or imagining success has also been shown to positively impact self-efficacy (Feltz & Riessinger, 1990). But this type of experience is not as likely to strongly impact self-efficacy in the way that actually performing the task would. It also takes a great deal of practice to become effective at visualization so that the experience feels as "real" as possible (I will further discuss visualization on a later date).

It should be noted that the success or failure of any of the aforementioned factors (in instilling confidence) is based on perception or interpretation. A runner must believe that a performance is good or that the positive words of their coach are sincere. Yes, this may be hard to do when one is struggling with confidence. But, if interpreted positively, a good workout (performance accomplishments), positive words from a coach (verbal persuasion), and seeing a training partner run well (vicarious experience) can help a runner develop the confidence necessary to succeed.

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.

Feltz, D. L, & Riessinger, C. A. (1990). Effects of in vivo emotive imagery and performance feedback on self-efficacy and muscular endurance. 

Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 12, 132-143.

George, T. R., Feltz, D. L., & Chase, M. A. (1992). The effects of model similarity on self-efficacy and muscular endurance: A second look. 

Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 14, 237-248.

Gill, D.L., & Williams, L. (2008). Psychological dynamics of sport  and exercise(3^rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 

For questions or comments I can be reached at bryanloy@ymail.com