Psychological Follow-up of 6 Months Training for a Half Ironman Triathlon

Abstract

Preparation for an endurance event amongst amateur athletes requires a major investment in time as well as a proper physical and mental training. Even if there is an increase of participation for endurance events in the country, there are few studies that have reported the psychological effects of such a demanding training for age groups athletes. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to characterise the psychological state of recreational athletes during a six months training prior to a half Ironman triathlon. METHODS: Thirty-one amateur athletes were recruited for this observational study. Participants were 40 ± 9.1 years old; and had a body weight of 74 ± 12.7 kg and a height of 172 ± 10.12 cm. All participants underwent a physical fitness assessment in January and two weeks prior to the half ironman event, held in June. They followed a training program supervised by a registered kinesiologist based on the Ironman UniversityTM annual planning. The training volume was 410.4 ± 201.48 min per week. For each month of training, participants received an email with a link to complete a monthly series of questionnaires that included: Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Version (FFMQsv), Profile mood scale (POMS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Sport Motivation Scale 2 Revised (SMS-2R). RESULTS: Vigour, anxiety and fatigue, POMS sub scale, significantly changed during training (p <0.05). Positive emotions increased over 3 months to stabilise until the competition. Participants felt different types of motivation regulation: intrinsic (15.9 ± 1.76), integrated (15.9 ± 1.98), identified (15.7 ± 1.87) and a little less (p<0.05) for introjected regulation (13.3 ± 1.62). They were significantly different (p<0.01) from external (4.9 ± 1.08) regulation motivation and non-regulation (3.6 ± 0.73). Mindfulness sub scale, Observation and Describe factors, were the only factors that significantly increased or decreased during the 6-months training (r2= 0.35 and r2=0.30, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Athletes who engages in this type of event have a high intrinsic motivation. We also noted that motivation, mindfulness and mood state follow the macrocycle of training. Thus, specific interventions and mental training could be structured around these important elements.