Pain Tolerance in Runners — Insights from Coach Hugo van den Broek

Understanding and controlling the difference between giving up and pushing through could transform your running performance

When you hit mile 20 of a marathon and every step feels like fire, what separates the runners who push through from those who slow to a walk? The answer lies in a fascinating area of sports science: pain tolerance. As someone who's spent years studying this phenomenon — both as a former elite runner and now coaching athletes in Kenya and from around the world — I've witnessed first-hand how understanding and improving pain tolerance can revolutionize your running performance.

The Critical Difference: Pain Threshold vs. Pain Tolerance

Most runners use these terms interchangeably, but they represent different concepts that could change how you approach training and racing.

Pain threshold is the point where you first experience discomfort as actual pain. Imagine discomfort on a scale of 1-100—your pain threshold might kick in around 15, where you think, "Okay, this is starting to hurt, but I can handle it.

Pain tolerance, however, is your maximum capacity to endure that pain before you decide to stop. This is where the magic happens for runners, and it’s trainable to a large degree.

Research consistently shows that while pain thresholds remain relatively static between trained and untrained individuals, pain tolerance varies dramatically. Elite runners don't feel less pain—they've simply trained their minds to handle significantly more of it.

The Ice Bath Revelation: What Research Tells Us

One of the most compelling studies in this field involved male ultra-marathoners and an active control group (men of the same age, who were not runners, but who took part in sports 2.5 hours per week), performing a simple but revealing test. Participants placed their hands in ice cold water for up to three minutes, rating their pain every 10 seconds on a 1-10 scale. Once they rated the pain a 10 (worst pain imaginable) they were told to remove their hand from the water.

The results were striking. The active individuals typically removed their hand around the 90-second mark, reporting maximum pain levels. Ultra-runners, without exception, lasted the full duration while rating their pain at only 5-6 out of 10.

Why Runners Develop Superior Pain Tolerance

Other research shows that this is not just the case for ultra-runners. Also marathon runners seem to have a higher pain tolerance. We are not 100% sure why this is the case, but the following mechanisms seem to play a role in the development of enhanced pain tolerance:

1. Progressive Adaptation

Every training session functions as both physical and mental conditioning. You learn to deal with the pain through repeated exposure, Your brain learns that the discomfort you're experiencing isn't dangerous — you're not having a heart attack, you're not going to die. This repeated exposure gradually increases your tolerance ceiling.

2. Emotional Detachment

Experienced runners develop what I call "pain professionalism." While beginners often become emotional when discomfort hits — panicking, catastrophizing, or fighting the sensation — seasoned runners treat pain as simply part of the job. The pain becomes, in a way, an irrelevant signal to them. They can acknowledge the pain without the emotional overlay that amplifies suffering.

3. Self-Selection

There's also a natural selection effect. Individuals with very low pain tolerance are unlikely to continue with running long enough to see improvement, while those with higher baseline tolerance are more likely to stick with the sport and continue developing this capacity.

The Elite Mindset: Embracing the Pain Cave

Having competed at the elite level with a 2:12 marathon personal best, I've experienced what we call "ready to die" days — not literally, but describing that mental state where you feel capable of pushing through any amount of discomfort. On these days, your pain tolerance feels limitless. It’s as if the pain can’t touch you.

Elite athletes prepare mentally for pain in ways that recreational runners often overlook. Research shows top-level athletes spend 1.5-2 hours weekly on mental training, particularly during peak competition phases. This isn't just visualization—it's systematic preparation for managing the inevitable discomfort of racing.

The Swimming Study: How Training Load Affects Pain Tolerance

A fascinating study examined three groups of swimmers: recreational, club-level, and elite national-team athletes. They performed a pain tolerance test involving sustained muscle contractions until failure (they had to open and close their fist, while the blood flow in their arm was restricted).

The results revealed a clear hierarchy:

• Recreational swimmers: scored 70 on average

• Club swimmers: scored 89

• Elite swimmers: scored 131

But here's the crucial finding: when researchers tracked elite swimmers throughout their season, pain tolerance scores fluctuated dramatically based on training intensity:

• Off-season (October): 116

• Building phase (March): 131

• Peak training/competition (June): 198

This proves pain tolerance is highly trainable and directly correlates with training (and racing) stress and mental preparation.

Another interesting finding of this study: the club swimmers rated the pain during the test as higher than the pain they normally experienced during training. On the other hand, the elite swimmers – who of course reached much higher levels of pain tolerance during the test – said the pain experienced during swimming was higher than what they experienced during the test.

Practical Strategies for Developing Pain Tolerance

1. Strategic Self-Talk

Ninety-five percent of runners talk to themselves during races, but most do it reactively rather than strategically. In other words; it’s not structured. They don’t have a plan for it, it just happens. If you manage to structure and control your self-talk, this becomes a powerful tool. Research shows self-talk can have a massive effect on distance running performance.

Try to develop specific phrases for different race stages, such as:

• Early race: "This is your day. You are strong.

• Mid-race: "It’s getting tough, but you're tougher.

• Final stages: "Time to launch. This is your moment.

  
  

The key is preparing these phrases in advance, at home and during training sessions, not improvising when discomfort hits.

2. On-Task vs. Off-Task Focus

Elite runners typically employ "on-task" strategies — focusing intensely on the present moment. This can be their running form, their breathing, their pace, or just sticking to the group they are running with, rather than trying to distract themselves. This contrasts with "off-task" approaches like listening to music or looking for external distractions.

The truth is that both on-task and off-task can work, depending on the individual, but an on-task focus develops greater long-term pain tolerance by teaching you to coexist with discomfort rather than escape it.

3. Progressive Exposure

Regularly include workouts that challenge your comfort zone. Your weekly training should include 1-2 sessions that require pushing through meaningful discomfort. This systematic exposure gradually expands your tolerance ceiling. This also means that you should sometimes do the type of sessions you’re less comfortable with. For example, you might do well in short interval sessions, but you hate longer intervals. Or you can handle intervals of any kind, but you don’t do well in a longer tempo run. This means you have to expose yourself (not too often, but now and then) to these type of workouts, so that you learn to handle that type of pain as well.

4. Reframe Pain as Information

Instead of viewing pain as something to eliminate, train yourself to see it as data. Pain tells you about effort level, pacing decisions, and remaining capacity. Elite runners use this information strategically rather than letting it trigger negative thinking or even panic responses.

The Mental Training Component

Just as you wouldn't expect to run a marathon without physical training, developing superior pain tolerance requires systematic mental conditioning. This involves:

• Visualization: Regularly imagining yourself pushing through difficult moments

• Controlled breathing: Practicing relaxation techniques

• Positive self-talk: Developing and rehearsing encouraging internal dialogue

• Mindfulness: Learning to observe discomfort without any emotional attachment to it

In my own case, a technique called progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) has been very successful. It helped me in many different ways. First of all, the focused breathing and relaxation teaches your brain to be in the present. To be focused and ignore all other thoughts that may pop up in your head. Secondly, the alternating between tension and relaxation teaches you the difference between a muscle that is 95% relaxed and a muscle that is 100% relaxed. You learn to relax your muscles completely. Thirdly, the exercise helped to increase my self-confidence.

When to Push and When to Pull Back

While developing pain tolerance is valuable, it's crucial to distinguish between productive discomfort and potentially harmful signals. The goal is expanding your capacity to handle the normal stress of hard training and racing, not ignoring warning signs of injury or dangerous overexertion.

Work with experienced coaches or training partners who can help you learn these distinctions. The goal is intelligent toughness, not reckless disregard for your body's signals.

Developing superior pain tolerance isn't about becoming a masochist—it's about expanding your capacity to pursue ambitious goals without being derailed by normal discomfort. Every runner has untapped potential limited more by mental boundaries than physical ones.

Start by dealing with the pain during your weekly harder workouts. Practice your self-talk strategies during these workouts before implementing them in races. Most importantly, begin viewing discomfort as a normal, manageable part of the running experience rather than something to fear or avoid. Remember, the runner who crosses the finish line isn't necessarily the one who felt the least pain—they're the one who developed the greatest capacity to move forward despite it. That capacity is trainable, and it might be the key to unlocking your next breakthrough performance.

Whether you’re an elite marathoner aiming for your next breakthrough or a recreational runner wanting to understand how to push your limits safely, Coach Hugo’s unique perspective — shaped by his Kenyan training camps and deep knowledge of running culture — will inspire and equip you to transform how you approach pain in your running journey.

Coach Hugo also organizes immersive running camps in Kenya where athletes run alongside local champions, attend seminars on mental toughness and pain management, and experience Kenyan running culture first-hand in a safe, supportive environment. Find out more at kenya-camp.com and follow Hugo on Instagram .

Don’t miss this powerful deep dive into pain tolerance and mental resilience for runners—tune in now!