You already know that running is a mental sport as much as physical. To push through discomfort and literally run out of your comfort zone is the basic principle on which running operates.
The mental part of the sport is dependent on your "Willpower" and what I will now refer to as simply "Will". Before proceeding, let us go through a few explanations of "Will".
Willpower (noun)- the trait of resolutely controlling your own behaviour.
Willpower (noun)- the ability to control yourself: strong determination that allows you to do something difficult (such as to lose weight or quit smoking)
Willpower (noun)- Unwavering firmness of character, action, or will.
Willpower (noun) - the ability to control your own thoughts and the way in which you behave.
This Will determines how much you will persevere and endure in training and racing, but primarily in training since race is just a training session which is a little more difficult than your peak training run.
Will is not an infinite resource. It is constantly being used up in our daily life for different purposes and therefore it keeps getting depleted on a constant basis. You may use it for not shopping for that particular item when your cash/credit is low. You may use it for finishing that assignment at work or in not punching your colleague on the nose while giggling because he is an asshole. You will most certainly use it to not walk out of your car and leave it stranded when stuck in a traffic jam for one hour. It will be used to listen and wake up to your alarm clock. It will be used by you to basically regulate all bad decisions in your life and achieve the fruit of the good decisions. Sometimes you will be able to win and sometimes you will be unable to will yourself to whatever seems right at that moment.
I'm not saying that Will does not regenerate but the rate of usage and regeneration have to match and be balanced. If the balance sways then there are burnouts, lethargy and weakness.
Training for a race, directly taps into this Will. You will use it to wake up, lace up and train, day after day. To do justice to your upcoming race, you will use the limited Will to forgo socialising, purchasing gear, doing those dreaded intervals and tempo runs. It will be used, in trickles, to endure a long run and in massive doses when you push the pace.
Now imagine this finite resource being depleted day after day due to your running regimen without enough regeneration. What this gradual depletion will lead to mostly, is lesser availability of the finite amount of Will for other aspects of your life provided that your training remains constant.
I become cranky after intervals because I feel like I tried committing suicide by running but somehow survived and now have to come back to other chores, which chores suddenly seem humongous since my brain has already contributed a significant part of my Will to the intervals.
A constant contribution of Will to running may lead to less enthusiasm at work, general apathy to routine activities, lowered impulse control, anxiety and other behavioural issues. Who hasn't stressed during the months/weeks/days before a major race?
Therefore, a race has to be chosen wisely, by keeping in mind that the training will determine your Will which is available for other aspects in life and which will allow you to maintain a balance (sanity?) and not get kicked out of your house by the Missus.
Choose a 5k race instead of a 10k race, if you can do more justice to the former and allow yourself to balance your life better. Maybe go for a Half marathon instead of a Full Marathon. Go for that Ultra if you can manage the high mileage.
In fact I'll go ahead and say that even target race finishing times should be chosen by considering your "Will".
By the way, you'll still look good by training for a Half Marathon instead of a Full Marathon :-)
Also, Will Smith has infinite Will.
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