Here, I am referring to associative cognitive strategies which is a topic commonly studied in psychology for marathon running. I read a couple review papers, papers, and the paper by Morgan and Pollock in 1977. Based on the reading, I understand that elite marathon runners tend to use associative strategies while non-elite tend to use disassociation.

I am wondering if there is consensus as to what extent associative cognitive strategies can be learned? And should recreational runners be suggested to learn associate cognitive strategies to enhance their running performance?