Building a Marathon Mind

Celebrating Small Achievements

This weekend I had a small 5K on the agenda...no traveling needed and a nice 2 laps around Capitol Lake sounded like a great idea.  It is fairly flat race, just minimal inclines at certain points, but no hills at all.  Prior to the race, I was a little nervous because I've been having some foot pain this week but all seemed to go well, until I hit the patch of muddy grass we had to run through.  This change of surface really took some energy out of me and I started to feel shin splints coming on, which I haven't had in a really long time!  After the jog through the mud, I had to stop and walk for a little while. Energy was kind of low throughout the rest of the run but finished pretty strong with about a 10 min/mile pace the last few tenths of a mile.  I was disappointed with my time because I'm still 5 minutes slower than my normal 5K times.  But, there is more to running than time.  It is a huge mental game and I know that my confidence is low right now with continuing issues with plantar fasciitis and sciatic issues, although it is improving.  Then, when I started to beat myself up about the time, something clicked.  I had finished this race 1 minute and 30 seconds faster than last weekend.  I'm heading in the right direction.  You can never plan on how you will recover from injury.  You just have to keep pushing forward and do the best you can on any given race day.  As I push forward toward NYC, I am going to step up my mental game and remind myself that building my "mental muscle" is just as important as building my endurance and my leg muscles.

That one minute and 30 seconds shows progress.  It isn't a time I like, but it is better than the time I didn't like last week!  Time to start building my running mantras to build my mental game.  What is your running mantra when energy is low and you are not feeling your run?

Sporting the Safari Lotta Breeze Capri from Skirt Sports!