It's All Mental

Thought I was referring to myself didn't ya?

While I was ticking off the miles on my run on Sunday, I was having a typical conversation with myself. You see, I try to keep my mind busy while I'm out there because really, what else is there to do?I struggled a bit on Sunday and I suppose I can chalk that up to being rusty, being sick, coming off an injury and being worried about the goal of 26.2 miles looming ahead of me in the very near future.


"How the HELL am I going to run for 20+ miles and not go insane?"


"How the HELL is my body going to hold up if I'm not in tip top shape?"


"What the HELL am I going to think about for 3+ hours?"


Those were a few of the worries that raced through my head on Sunday...and throughout random times throughout the days. So I need to put it on "paper" and tell myself to let go of things I can't control. My body. And wrangle the things I can control. My head.

Here is what I have come up with:

1. Run with a friend. I am trying to convince my buddy Trent to run that 20 miles with me. It will be distracting, it will be different and having run several full marathons and ultras, he will whoop my ass into gear when I start crying and whining. (come on Trent, you know you wanna do it)

2. Pick different routes. Change it up. Take the long run somewhere else besides my neighborhood and my everyday running paths. 

3. Download new music. Music is HUGE to me. I know this. Music gets me through my runs, picks me up and motivates me. Of course, having something new to get me pumped up will help.

4. I remind myself how many people have done "the marathon". People that are slower. People that are older. People that aren't as "in-shape" as me (funny). Hell, people that have prosthetic legs, injuries and life threatening illnesses. If "they" can do it. I can.

5. Be excited. I am going to work on thinking back to how amazing I felt the first time I ran 5 miles, 10 miles, my first half marathon. The sense of accomplishment and pride. The elation. Isn't this the same thing? Except bigger and grander? Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

6. Lower my expectations. I know that's a shitty goal...and maybe a bad outlook,and I don't mean to set myself up to fail. But if my body CAN'T hold up, I will drop to the half marathon and I will NOT beat myself up over it. Nothing is more important than listening to your body. It's the boss of my mind after all.

7. Be grateful. For my legs. For the lovely Arizona weather that allows me to run outside every single day. That I can afford the luxury of running in a race and traveling to do it. I never take this for granted. For every time I think I suck, that I'm slow, that I'm not good enough....I think to people who are bound to a wheelchair, plagued by sickness or simply struggling to put a meal on the table.

So I'm pretty sure I just motivated MYSELF with all this talk. I'm gonna strap on my shoes and bust out my 7 miler on this glorious Wednesday...because it's fun. Because I can. Because I have my eye on the prize.

I'll leave you with this gem...and remind myself of it when I start acting like one....