Mind Over Matter

When it comes to running drills at the track, I have a huge mental block.  Something about sprinting around that soft surface scares and intimidates me.  The last phase of my current running program with Luke's Locker is speed drills at the track, i.e. pain and agony.

Three weeks ago, I ran in a 10K race and for the first time ever, placed 3rd in my division.  A HUGE acccomplishment for me.  The following Saturday, my running group met up at a high school track in North Dallas for speed drills.  Instead of carrying that confidence forward to the track, I was nearly shaking with anxiety and I could not wrap my brain around running 12x300s.  The intimidation and self doubt got the best of me.  I fell behind my group quickly and gave up on myself even faster.  I cried almost the whole way whole drive home and was really focused on how badly I ran that day.  With a half marathon coming up the following week, I was completely down on  myself and my spirits.

After a little food and some mental refocus, I began to tell myself that it's all about the thoughts I fill my mind with.  I realized that before I even got to the track, I had already given up.  I was intimidated by all the fast people around me and I convinced myself that I was not good enough.  With that understanding, I immediately shifted my focus to how well I would run in the upcoming half marathon and set a fast goal for myself.  The rest of the week, I told myself how well I was going to run.  I doubted myself little and believed in myself more.

I ran that half marathon in my fastest time yet.   A PR of 1:47:30.  I didn't gain an amazing amount of speed over the course of a week, but I did gain an incredible amount of confidence.  I believed in myself!  Making the simple transition of shifting the way I thought about myself produced incredible results.

This past week was another tough week of running track.  But instead of letting the track get into my head, I knocked out my 200s with energy and effort and most importantly, mental determination.  Yesterday, I was back with my group for dreaded 800s.  Not to my surprise, I not only kept up with my group, I beat many of them.  My focus and belief in myself is as strong as ever.  Good things are in my future.  This I know!