If the mind can believe it, the body can achieve it.

Each year, I tell myself, “This is going to be the year I run really fast!” or “I’m going to get in the pool 3-4 times a week and maybe wake up at 5:30 like some of the other athletes!” However, I’ve accepted the fact that I am not a morning person at this point in my life and I’m okay with that I used to be hard on myself about not getting up for a workout or deviating from the plan, but I’ve realized that it’s okay to not have a strict schedule. Each day I plan which activity I want to do, then go through my mental  list of workouts and choose one.

So far, this training season I have focused a lot on running and staying consistent with my workouts. I have committed to a long run, tempo run, and an interval run each week. I tend to get impatient with my progress and complain to my fiancee- “How come I’m not getting faster ? Why is it still a struggle for me to do a long run?” Then he’ll tell me that I need to be consistent and patient and it will pay off.

The other day, a lady at the gym asked me to join her running group on the weekends. All at once I felt excited, anxious, and doubtful of my capabilities- especially when she told me the distance and pace that the group runs! I fibbed a little and said that I’ve been running faster than I really have on the treadmill.

The following week and a half, I put in some work. I ran 2 long runs at a faster speed and they were the best I’ve felt all year. I was mentally strong, extremely relaxed, confident, and in the zone. I think one of the things that made the run so good was listening to Coldplay albums which mellowed me out in the best way and made me feel like I was in my own little world running without a care in the world.  My thoughts were very minimal, and it was great I was so proud that I pushed myself and thought, “I could have been running this speed weeks ago!” If it wasn’t for the lady at the gym, I probably wouldn’t have challenged myself.

I can think of a number of times in this sport when I was impatient or had self doubt and then was blown away thinking, “Wow, I did that?!” I think that feeling and those words can and should be used more often if we could believe in ourselves just a little bit more. The mind is a powerful thing and the best part is that we have the power to control it. We just have to realize that and take action. We owe it to ourselves!