Hatha yoga, hot room, nailed every pose. That particular day, everything went right. I was completely focused on the movement at that moment. I thrived on it. Picturing it like it was yesterday. My mind and my body were connected with ZERO distractions.
Lately, I’ve struggled with mental distractions (that come in the form of negative comments to myself) while running. My concerns about my knees or my feet or just various aches and pains that are completely random- cause me to lose my focus.
Race days can be particularly challenging especially in the last mile of the race or the last lap of a bike race (can be really scary). Any form of competition can be so mental! What frame of mind are you in on race day? Are you “revved up” and ready to go- practically dancing on the starting line or are you skeptical and worried about the coming attractions- PAIN and SUFFERING? I can picture so many times when I’ve talked myself out of a position or a time or a point (like I’m not worthy or something). Here’s to getting over all the negative stuff. (“negative chatter”- MizFit)
The right mental outlook needs to be applied throughout the training period. Matt Fitzgerald, author of Brain Training For Runners: A Revolutionary New Training System to Improve Endurance, Speed, Health, andResults
Where’s your focus on race day? Do you have specific chants or repetitive statements that you use to keep you concentrating? How do you block out the distractions to FOCUS? How hard are you willing to go? These are questions I’m asking myself as well as you, readers.
This blog post was inspired by this one.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Bobbi // Jun 6, 2008 at 5:41 am
when running I ussualy say to myself, I did not get up this freakin early in the morning to run half a$$!!!
2 MizFit // Jun 6, 2008 at 9:08 am
oooh, bobbi has a good one!
Im not enough o’a racer to have a mindset BUT with life in general it’s often the simple:
none of us are guaranteed another (race, day, whatever!) so Id better make this a good one!
thanks for the shoutout as well.
M.
3 Fitarella // Jun 6, 2008 at 1:27 pm
i haven’t had a race day in a long time so i don’t even remember what i used to think/say to myself. but on my runs (this might sound queer) I usually construct these little fantasies/storylines in my head about how I would like a certain situation to go. it’s not necessarily about running, but about work stuff, friend stuff, family, whatever…i pick out everything fron the place, to the manolo heels i’m wearing
before ya know it you’re almost done with the run!
4 The final mile at 100 Percent // Jun 6, 2008 at 7:07 pm
[...] The final mile …to ask themselves ” How much did I give out there today?” If it’s anything less than 100 percent, you should not be entirely satisfied… [...]
Leave a Comment