Picture Your Post-Race Celebration While You Train & Race

• 2 • 13.1 Training, Motivation

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I like to picture my post-race celebration while I train for a big event, while I run the big event, and any time I need a little extra motivation during my running journey.

Having a little celebration ritual planned helps keep the end of a race from feeling anti-climactic.  Without any planning, you can find yourself rushing home after a race to shower and get lunch on the table like it’s any other day.

My post-race celebration has become pretty simple – I look forward to the moment after the race when I’m showered, comfortable, and can pour myself a celebratory beer.  Wearing the race medal is optional.  Thinking about how awesome I am during that first sip is not.

It’s a small ritual, it doesn’t take up much time, and it’s compatible with the whole “need to have lunch with the family” thing.  But it’s a special moment I look forward to, when I take a moment of silence to appreciate my own accomplishment.

I highly recommend it.

Give yourself something specific to look forward to after a big race.  Picture that moment, and how good you’ll feel about the work you put in, while you’re training and racing.  Have it help you up the hill, and then when you get to that moment you’ve planned, reflect back on your struggling self and congratulate you on getting to this moment (and knowing that you would).

Pride in yourself is a beautiful thing.  It motivates us, makes us stronger, and rewards us for the hard work we put in to being our best selves.  Make time for it.

 

 

 

How to Embrace Being a Little Fish in a Big Pond

• 8 • 13.1 Training, Motivation

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Ever since I became a runner in 2012, I’ve been a proverbial fish jumping into bigger and bigger ponds.  I got my feet wet with Couch to 5k.  Then I jumped into the 10k pond.  Now I’m about to run my fourth half marathon.

I’ve always identified myself as a “slow” runner, in part because as a beginner, I really was starting and finishing towards the back when I ran my first races.  As soon as I accomplished one distance, I started working towards the next.  Since I was working hard just to get to the start line, sure enough I was starting at the back with the rest of the new-to-that-distance-runners.

If I’m not careful, it can feel that despite all my hard work, I’m not making progress.  After all, two years of running later, I’m still starting at the back.

Motivated people do this to ourselves all the time.  As soon as we achieve something, we start reaching for the next achievement, surrounding ourselves with people who are already successful in that field and learning from them.  No matter how big a fish we become, we always feel small because we keep jumping into the next pond.

Sound like you?

Stop.

Turn around.

Look at all the little fish and small ponds behind you.

According to numbers from statista.com and quickfacts.census.gov, there are approximately 300 million people in the United States over the age of 5, and only 54 million of them participate in running or jogging.  That’s 18% of people, which means if you’re jogging at all, you’re a faster runner than 3 out of every 5 people you meet.

Running USA states that in 2013 only 1.9 million people finished a half marathon (which was a record high).  That means that if you jog 13.1 miles, regardless of how long it takes you to finish, you’re accomplishing something that only .6% of people in the United States did last year.  (that’s POINT 6 percent… make sure you look at the point!)  According to the New York Times, If you were in the top 1 percent of earners in the US, your household income would be over $383,000 a year.  No small fish.

So when I meander towards the back of the pack at the starting line on Sunday, I will turn around and think about the millions of people who would be behind me.  The millions of people not running.  Sure, I’m running 10:30’s and all my twitter friends are running 7 and 8 minute miles, but that’s because I dove headfirst into their pond, not because I’m not awesome.

And pretty soon, I’ll sign up for a 5k, where I now start right in the middle and race in the low 9’s.  Then I can remind myself that it took swimming in a bigger pond to feel comfortable in that one.

I can’t wait for Sunday.  I will to put my bib number on.  I will find myself a place at the rear of the pack.  I will applaud myself for being there and racing the same event as the elite athletes that are starting out at the front.  They’ve earned their place, and I’ve earned mine.

Turn around.  Look where you come from.  Go back sometimes and visit the small pond; enjoy being a larger fish while you’re there.  Be proud when you look at the incredible athletes you’re now joining on the race course.  Be proud of your tenacity for doing something you’re not the best at, because you love it and it makes you healthier and stronger.

And on race day, remember: “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…”

A 2 Minute Starting Line Strategy to Improve Your Race Performance!

• 3 • 13.1 Training, Motivation, Running
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Standing like this for a minute before the race could improve your performance. Photo by Thatcher Cook for Pop Tech / CC 2.0

I’m always looking for running hacks – ways to improve my running that aren’t, well, running.  I’ve found one I can’t wait to try.

My inspiration comes from one of the most popular TED talks of all time, social psychologist and Harvard Business School professor Amy Cuddy’s talk titled “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are.”

Summary: Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist who is interested in non-verbal expressions of power dominance.  She found that prior to a stressful event (like a job interview) people who posed for two minutes in a high power position (arms open or outstretched, taking up space, making yourself bigger) vs. a low power position (arms crossed, poor posture, making yourself smaller) had decreased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and performed significantly better in the interview.  (Start watching at 12:00 to see the recap of the experiment.)

Through her work Cuddy has discovered that “Our bodies change our minds, our minds change our behavior, our behavior changes our outcomes.”  Her research demonstrates that people who adopt power poses prior to a stressful event have measurable positive chemical changes in their brains, and that these changes increase their success and how they’re perceived by others.

Later in the speech she addresses the concept of “faking it until you become it”, and accepting that you’re not FAKING it, you’re removing the inhibitions that prevented your real self, ideas, and capabilities from shining through.

THIS IS SO COOL.  When we’re nervous and anxious it’s harder to put our best selves forward.  Cuddy has found a life-hack that allows us to boost our chances of success just by standing with our arms outstretched in a power pose for a few minutes before we enter a rough situation.

Application: Give yourself the best chance of race day success.  Step off to the side somewhere, pretend you’re doing some sort of stretching, and make yourself as big as possible.  Hold your arms up and out stretched, feet wide, and lean left and right a couple times to make it look normal.  Think some positive thoughts about how many miles of training you have behind you for good measure.  You can also do the less obvious “wonder woman pose” where you stand with your feet spread slightly apart and your hands on your hips.

A lot of racing is mental.  I know my legs can make it 13.1 miles on Sunday, I don’t know how fast my mind will encourage them to get there.  Will I slow down because I feel discouraged, or will I push through?  Will I confidently push the pace, believing I will still make it to the finish, or will I handicap myself out of concern?  If I do start out a little too fast, will I be able to tell myself it’s all right and just slow down, or will I take it as a sign that I should give up and walk/jog to the finish?  My legs didn’t feel too bad the day after my last half marathon.  Physically, I didn’t push as hard as I could have, because mentally, my confidence broke at mile 7 and I just meandered towards the finish line.

So you better believe I’ll be off to the side before we start doing power poses to lower my cortisol, boost my confidence, and give my my mind the best chance of pushing my body confidently towards the finish line.  After all, it’s only a two minute investment!

For a good visual, check out this blog post from the TED blog with a great chart on low power vs. high power poses.

Hope you’re enjoying the fall racing season!

How to push through a tough point in your run

• 0 • Motivation

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So much of running is mental.  We’ve all had those moments in a run when we know our body could keep going, if we were just strong enough mentally to MAKE it keep going.

It’s hard to stay motivated during a training run.  No one is watching, no finish line is waiting with race volunteers ready to post your time all over the internet.  There’s no immediate payoff for pushing yourself to complete that interval, or keep the pace up on your tempo run.  The pay-off won’t come for weeks, when you finally get to the start line of whatever event you’re training for.

My old (unsuccessful) strategy: I used to try to pretend someone I wanted to impress was watching me and would be unimpressed if I took a walking break, but I’m not stupid.  I knew no one was watching.  That tactic made me annoyed with myself for trying to trick me, and pretty much guaranteed a stop.

Picture yourself storing energy for when you’ll need it most:  So I’ve switched it up – now I visualize myself at mile 11 of my next half marathon.  I picture myself tired, but with 11 solid miles behind me, really happy with my pace, but about to crash and do poorly with only two miles left in the race.  I imagine that my running self now is charging the batteries of my running self then.  Every effort I make to finish what I’m attempting, every moment longer that I push, is going straight to her legs and propelling her forward towards the finish line.

My cynical, you-can’t-fool-me-into-continuing side can’t squash this imagery, because it has an element of truth to it.  Every time I push myself during my training, I am giving my legs a better chance at mile 11 of my next half marathon.  It’s true enough to work… and so I ignore the burning and push myself forward, thinking “here, here, here, here, here… this is for you!!! Take this energy, take this speed, take this effort, it’s yours, you only have two miles left!!!! WE GOT THIS!”

Not training for a race?  That’s ok.  You’re doing this for a reason, too.  What’s your primary motivation?  Maybe you picture your heart getting healthier, yourself having more energy in the coming week when you need it most, you nailing a presentation at work because you pushed through this and gave yourself the positive exercise endorphins and confidence rush you needed.  Find your why, and focus on it when the going gets tough.

Picture a direct energy transfer of the effort you’re exerting now, into positive energy stored for that moment when you’ll need it most.

If you’ve been running long enough… you’ll know it’s not so far from the truth.

Happy running 🙂