Nothing defeats and rewards a runner more than finding a way to break through the dreaded runner's wall – that insufferable and unendurable phase of fatigue that sets in after a volatile series of highs and lows. Sometimes, if not most times, the wall may trounce us; sometimes, on those special runs, we’re able to blissfully see ourselves through to the other side of it.

As to when and where this wall appears – to each their own; it’s a wholly subjective enterprise, depending on every variable under the moon, from experience to fitness level to heart health. This variation has served to not only diversify our experience but also our understanding of the limitations that stand between us and the kind of personal achievements that motivate us from the jump.

However, we can hook onto some common denominators, shared discoveries that help us move closer to achieving what we had previously thought impossible: cardiovascular science; nutritional schematics; the architectonics of footwear; hydration formulations.

But recently, something tremendous of a common denominator has been emerging, something that will serve to revolutionize the concept of endurance running as a whole, and something that will redefine our relationship with, well, ourselves more than anything.

As we continue to delve into the neurological side of our physiological stature, we continue to uncover new understandings with respect to the lofty intangibles we once figured to be nothing more than fluffy ideology designed to sell books or validate psychology degrees.

One such understanding that we’ve recently run into, face first, has been the Constrained-Action Hypothesis - something that I’ll immediately ask the reader to rephrase for themselves, for ease of understanding, as the concept of External Focus.

The Constrained-Action Hypothesis posits that shifting attentional focus from the internal to the external results in improved physical output, especially in the context of endurance (and especially favourable for long-distance running).

In other words, the more attention a runner can extricate from their own internal mechanisms – the burning of their lungs or hamstring muscles, the sweating and chaffing, the distance they’ve covered or not covered – and reallocate it towards anything external -- the smooth pavement, the tangled tree roots, the moisture in the air, the rubber on the sole of their shoe, maybe the latest episode of XYZ – the more capability we seem to have.

This isn’t just fluff.

Numerous studies have been pouring in, studying goalkeepers, long-jumpers, and triathletes, momentously finding that this seems to be much more real than we could have expected.

Procedurally, it all has to do with the psycho-physical automation at play between our mind and body, and the role that our subconscious has in executing our ability to operate within our self-perceived limitations.

Ultimately, it’s not rocket science – the mind plays a critical role when it comes to performance.