Preparing to Race--Your Mantra (part 3 of 3)

"It's worth it" on the inside of my purple state ring

The last two posts discussed my talk, "Preparing to Race" at the Brevard Distance Runner's Camp.  The discussion was carried out in three parts and yes, the final part was about a mantra.  You may have guessed that from the title of this post.

Do YOU have a mantra?  Do you know what a mantra is?

After my sophomore year of high school cross-country I wasn't sure about doing cross-country the final two years.  I enjoyed basketball and did well in track, yet cross-country had been difficult and hadn't gone so well. Maybe it wasn't for me I thought.  I loved my team and also I was brought up being taught the values of hard work and having to do things you don't always want to do.  I dug in and worked hard my junior year of cross-country and finished runner-up at the state meet.  Like anyone, I knew I had to win the state championship my senior year.  That meant I had to run more the summer of 1999 than I ever had and that it was going to be tough.  Thus began my mantra, "It's worth it." 

By combining the physical aspect from post 1 and the mental aspects of post 2, I got to work.  I repeatedly used my mantra. When it could have been easy to think, "I want to sleep in" or "Maybe I'll just run later" or "Why am I doing this?" or "I don't want to keep going" or "Who cares?" etc, I trained my brain, mile after mile, to default to "It's worth it."  I used this mantra daily as I worked hard, got tired, missed some fun nights, and the finish line seemed far off.  I used this and it worked. 

What's YOUR mantra going to be this upcoming season?  Find your idea or phrase from something meaningful or inspirational to you.  Then practice it over and over again.  Train your brain to default to what keeps you on track for your goals.  It's worth it. 





Preparing to Race (part 2 of 3)

At camp, after my great opening idea on what it takes to be prepared to race, most of the high school cross-country athletes understood and agreed that--  especially right now, the most important thing they could do to be prepared was to stay on top of their summer training.  To me, that seems pretty straightforward and physical.  Run, run, run when you’re tired, run so much you might cry, or snap, or cry and snap, and then run again more than you ever have.  That’s what summer going into your best season of high school looks like.  Physically tough, but straightforward. 

Many people also agree that running is some % mental and another % physical.  How does this work?  Where are you on the scale? On Monday afternoon I asked my first group at camp, “In July, do you find your sport to be more physical or mental?” I had them step to one side of the field to denote physical % majority or the other side to denote mental.  Then I asked them which majority side they leaned with in August once school had started, regular practice sessions were underway, and the first meet was nearby.  I moved on and asked them about October, the month of pre-state. And what about November?  On Monday and Tuesday I had completely different results amongst the groups.  We discussed each result along the way.

You might not be in high school, but do you have a season planned out?  …or do you have random races on your calendar?  What side would you stand on pre-season, early season, mid-season, and championship season?  How stuck in stone in this?  How does which side you stand on get adjusted by your previous race, your prior week’s training, reading about someone else’s result across the country, or by your coach and teammates and the culture and tradition of your training set-up?  Why did the Tuesday team’s responses look so different than the Monday group’s?

Later this week I will share with you part 3 of the talk I gave at the Brevard Distance Runner’s Camp.