• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • St. louis

Moms Little Running Buddy

Always striving, never quite achieving balance

DSC_0142 cropped 200 topright_text
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Running
  • Workouts
  • Pregnancy
  • Parenting
  • Partnerships

It’s all in your head

April 18, 2014 4 Comments

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Welcome to Mom’s Little Running Buddy!  Are you looking for the Easter Egg Hunt Workout you saw on TV this AM?  You can find it and other workouts here.

If I ask you go to race, what do you start thinking about?  How would you mentally prepare?

If I ask you to go for a run, does that approach change? 

I know to some it might be semantics…same word but for me they have very different meanings and invoke very different emotions that effect my workout.

A couple weeks ago, I ran the St. Louis Half Marathon (read about it here).  I had a pretty good training plan and stuck to it for the most part and that definitely gave me a little more confidence going into Sunday.  I felt ready physically but the night before I started getting anxious as I do for about every long race.  Doubting myself.

Can I do it?  Will I be able to run the entire time?

After a while of doubting, I went to bed and woke up anxious.  Anxious about “the starting line” and just about the race in general.  On the way downtown, I started thumbing through my mental Rolodex of mental strategies and what I landed on surprised myself but it felt right.

Just treat this like any other run…that you just happen to be doing with thousands of your closest running buddies.  For some reason it stuck and worked.  The anxiety went away and I didn’t worry about the distance or the course.  I just focused on getting this run done. 

So it got me thinking just how much of our success is really in our heads.  I know everyone says it but if you can figure yourself out, you can become your best friend in situations like this rather than your worst enemy. 

Maybe it’s age and experience but I like this mindset and I like the confidence it gives me. 

How do you mentally prepare?  Do you treat a race different than a run?

More from my site

  • 9 Months Old and Getting Cuter By The Day9 Months Old and Getting Cuter By The Day
  • The Truth About My Body ImageThe Truth About My Body Image
  • Look Before You LeapLook Before You Leap
  • Hold On..Crazy Week AheadHold On..Crazy Week Ahead
  • Five Reasons to Love in the Long RunFive Reasons to Love in the Long Run
  • Marvelous Monday: Mizuno, Running and FamilyMarvelous Monday: Mizuno, Running and Family

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Comments

  1. EB says

    April 18, 2014 at 12:31 pm

    The mental prep is just as important as the physical prep in my experience! I try to plan ahead more for races than runs to eliminate extra stress before race day.

    Reply
  2. Amanda says

    April 18, 2014 at 1:28 pm

    I treat long distance races like a training run and just go by feel, usually I end up doing better than I thought I would but I’m still new to racing distances over 5k’s/ If it’s a 5K I try to go into with a plan based on how I’m feeling that day – I know not every day can be your fastest. Being mentally prepared is key!

    Reply
  3. jillconyers says

    April 18, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    I definitely treat them differently. Running is so mental and a lot of the time that is a bigger challenge for me than the physical.

    Reply
  4. Betsy M. says

    April 18, 2014 at 5:42 pm

    I do look at races and runs very differently. Runs I use to get me to the start lines of races and races are where I show all the work I’ve done on my runs. My competitiveness comes out at races whereas runs are based on my training plan.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sign up for Moms Little Running Buddy

receive the latest posts directly to your inbox

Affiliate Support

Shop My Affiliates

Support me by shopping my favorite brands.

New Balance Athletic Shoe