I’m a big believer in the power of mantras – especially during tough runs. Pushing through intervals on the ‘mill the other day this thought kept coming back to me and became my mantra du jour.
Now three weeks into the new year, I’d hope to have settled into a running groove. Instead it feels a little more like two steps forward then one step back. But as long as there is forward progress, I’ll get there!
Do you use mantras? If so, what’s working for you at the moment?
Today begins week 6 of half marathon training.
Recently Coach Bennett sent me the next two phases of my training plan. Since I was struggling with my runs due to my cranky ITB, I’d held off reviewing the rest of the plan – until yesterday. I got a good look at the target paces, hill work, weekly mileage – and took a deep breath. Time to get out of my comfort zone again 🙂
But I’m looking forward to moving into this next phase of training. I did the things I needed to do to calm my ITB and am back to pain-free miles. So I’ll continue to do the strength work and exercises necessary to hopefully avoid any hiccups moving forward. And it is time to move forward – I’m ready to embrace the challenge.
“Embrace the challenge” has really become my mantra for this training cycle – I’m going after each workout with enthusiasm and confidence…maybe it’s time to create a new comfort zone!
Spectating at the heat-fest known as the 2012 Boston Marathon on Monday got me thinking a lot about my own mental toughness. As I stood on the streets of Newton, watching runners gut it out in 89 degrees under a scorching sun, I was so impressed by how deep these people had to dig to will themselves to keep moving. I wondered what strategies they had used to build their mental strength…what mental tricks were they using now to push through the tough conditions.
How do you prepare yourself mentally for a race? There is a natural level of mental training that comes from doing the physical training. Through the long runs, tempo runs, track work, etc., you are faced with times where you must push through a tough workout, convince yourself to not give up on that last 1600 interval or even just will yourself to get out of bed and hit the road in the first place! There is no doubt that making the commitment to months of training for a race requires you to push yourself mentally.
But how else do you up your mental ante? — Do you use visualization? Vision boards? Running journals? Mantras? Draw on certain past races/training runs? I find mantras to be really helpful – short, powerful affirmations that help me stay positive and remember how I want to feel in a particular moment. And, while I have just a few races under my belt, each one is a learning experience and gives me some experiences to draw on when a race turns ugly. For my upcoming half marathon, I’ve also started visualizing the course (easy to to do since I’ve run it before) – mentally walking through every turn and hill will hopefully boost my confidence on race day.
Despite the perfect training cycle and having a well-planned race strategy, days like yesterday prove that things can happen on race day that are well out of our control. In those moments, having a deep mental well to draw from makes all the difference!
Some days it’s the little things that help get me through a run, especially when I’m not feeling it.
Sometimes it’s the right song that helps me pick up the pace (right now for me that song is Jay-Z’s “Run this town”).
Sometimes it’s seeing a friend along the route.
Sometimes it’s the policeman working a detail on my out and back who cheered me up the hill.
Sometimes it’s finding the right mantra (of late, I have two: “Fight through” and simply “Believe”).
Sometimes it’s the mental negotiations — “get past the next 3 telephone posts;” “ok, now get to that mailbox;” etc.
Sometimes it’s the realization of how close I am to a particular time goal if I just push a little.
Sometimes it’s my neighbor telling me how proud she is of the progress I’m making.
Sometimes it’s remembering another blogger’s post about a tough run/race and drawing a little inspiration.
The more I run, the more I marvel at how much of a mental sport running really is.
