I was thinking about how at times I enjoy a run much more than others. My mind was really set up for those runs and I was able to maintain a positive mindset – turn boredom into feeling good and with gratitude, tiredness into lightness… Then suddenly a memory came to me about how I really loathed running when I was a child.
When I was in primary school a lot of P.E. (sport lessons) was spent running races. They were short races of 100 – 200m and I was usually one of the last ones to finish the race. I remember being told by teachers that I should be one of the first ones to finish as I was the tallest, was fairly slim and had the longest legs. I was told I had an advantage over the other kids. Regardless of this I continued to come in as one of the last runners. I dreaded sports lessons and sports day. The expectation that others had of me and me not fulfilling them made me feel pressure and a failure. I had the idea I was not born to run and hated it.
The truth of the matter I now understand is that at that time I had little desire to run and had no interest in pushing myself. I was far more interested in music and drama classes than sport! With the added expectation of “I should be able to run better” it just made running worse. I was constantly setting myself up for failure. I felt like a failure so I acted it out to justify my thought.
That last sentence is key to how we unconsciously respond to emotions rather than logic. We feel something – dread, pressure, fear, not being good enough and our brain responds to this.
On the other hand when I was in secondary school things really changed. I discovered the joys of cross-country running. This would be a long 8 mile run and I loved it! I would be one of the early finishers. I mean a good time out of school classes and running in the beautiful countryside for me was bliss! I was motivated and this motivation made my running improve. In fact I remember some students taking shortcut routes through the forest and along the river just to say they had finished before me! My mindset about running completely changed. The long legs were doing the thing that they didn’t want to do in primary school and I prefered endurance instead of dynamic short races. Since then I was hooked on running longer distances. Having said that I went on to win 2nd in my category for a mile night race when I certainly didn’t have the mindset to do well at this distance. That win changed my thinking that you can always give a bit more than you believe you are capable of.
If you are runner reflect back on those runs that made you feel low and on those that gave you a high and ask yourself:
Q. What was I feeling?
Q. Did you feel like you had to impress others rather than yourself?
Q. If you turned those feelings round to the opposite how would that have changed your performance?
The key is turning emotions/feelings into positive ones, and regularly enough to rewire your thinking. Try it out in any life situation!