Master your mindset for your runs

If you’re anything like me, you’ve found yourself in the middle of a run with a victim’s mindset in tow. I used to have a barrage of thoughts in the midst of my first half-marathon training, 

What’s freeing is to know that you don’t have to listen to everything your brain says. Every human has an array of random and unnecessary thoughts. That’s just part of being human. When you realize that not everything your brain says is true, you are able to get out of a victim’s mindset and take control of your situation. 

Though your siblings or friends or some random girl on instagram can run a 7:30 mile for 5 hours straight, you have no idea how much work they’ve put into it. And t’s probably a ton. 

Before you start telling yourself you’re a lazy loser and you can’t do a simple task that a million other people do with excellence, remind yourself that a very small percentage of the population trains for a race. And then remind yourself it takes hundreds of repetitions to feel comfortable with running - or any hard task for that matter. 

If you’re like me and have been baffled at how a 3 mile run can feel more difficult than the 7-miler you did 2 days ago, ask yourself some questions: did I sleep well last night? Did I fuel myself differently? Did I have a hard workout the past couple of days and not give myself adequate rest? There are infinite factors that play into success with an individual run. 

I think that coming from a background where anything has come easier - ie school or your job or any other fitness fete - can render it a shock when something as simple as running - essentially just putting one foot in front of the other repeatedly - turns out to be one of the hardest thing you’ve ever done, both mentally and physically. Remind yourself that each run, and even each stride, is a rep towards excellence.

Learn a lesson from the last rep, but don’t let it have a negative impact on your next.