Days 17-19: Get past my mental blockade
PIN IT!I realize I’m a bit ahead on posting this, but I had this epiphany as I began my training. The rest of the days will be updated this week 🙂
With a race about three weeks away, days 15-17’s mini lution came while I was running attempting to run outside to train. I’m not a runner, never was a runner, however, have always wanted to be. I want to be someone who runs 5k’s, 8ks and even marathons. Someone who can conquer any asphalt or sandy beach that comes my way. So to put a deadline on my training, I signed up for a race. [You may recall from my post in late March, dictating the details of my race!] Well, that race is rapidly approaching and I needed to get a head start on my training, so on day 15, I did. And let me tell you, it was NOT easy. I learned something about myself that definitely needs some adjusting.
The hardest part of running for me is not the actual running part, one foot in front of the other, nothing that particularly tough. The hardest part is BELIEVING i can do it, and reciting in my head that it’s doable. I have a problem of thinking I can’t do it because i haven’t in a while and soon enough, I’m gasping for air and walking when I should be running. I’m what I like to call a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I say “I can’t do this” enough in my mind, sure enough, I can’t actually do it. So on day’s like today, when I’m running for the first time and am a little anxious about it, when my mind is telling me how I can’t run, well, my body takes the hint and makes it harder for me.
Well, this type of mindset is not going to get me through the race, or better yet, life so I need to learn to shatter through the mental wall my mind sets up and accomplish what my body knows I can. So instead of reciting “I can’t” I’m going to recite “I can” and try to overcome the my mental blockade. It’s not going to be easy, but it has to be done. I can’t do anything if I don’t believe in myself right?
So on days 16 and 17, I hopped right back out there and ran my ass off. I still stopped and still didn’t run the entire way, but I made substantial progress from day 15. It’s shocking to see, first hand, how pushing through the mental walls can make such a difference in how you do something. I’m not going to win the race, or even probably make great time, but I’ll do it and I’ll know I pushed through all the cants that fill my mind. Keep your eye out for more training updates.
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Claire
Tags:5k, 8k, accomplishing a goal, body over mind, DC races, mental block, race training, run, running, running outside, training for a race
