I'm talking mantras people!..I had a really nice fast paced run at Burnaby Lake on Saturday.....doing the loop in a respectable 49 minutes and finishing very strong and with the title words above ringing in my head. I had found a new mantra;..stronger,harder,faster.
This months issue of Runner's World has a story on the magic of mantras and their importance to the runner....Finish Strong...Blaze a Trail....I am power....Things we tell ourselves to keep our bodies in gear and on track. The brain is a powerful thing and words are a powerful tool to anyone, but especially to the athlete.
I have been trying to focus on core strength and hoping to pick up my speed. I was previously content to just finish, and I think this new mantra will help me embrace the change. Stronger. Harder.Faster.
When I ran the Royal Victoria Marathon in 2008, I trained alone, I ran alone. But I had a mantra. Big League Jam. It meant a lot to me. On one of my long training runs I had a spectacular rolling wipe out down Cariboo Hill (if you don't know the hill it is fairly steep) that saw me sprawled on the cement looking up at the sky. I got up and shook it off, rubbed some grass on the blood, and ran for another hour and a half. Big league jam.
At the marathon in Victoria, New Balance was the title sponsor and they had their awesome love/hate campaign underway and a huge board in the street outside the store for marathoners to write their own love/hate. I wrote mine ...hate injuries....love big league jam..When I was running the marathon itself and approaching mile 19 and desperately trying to find that Big League Jam...there it was on the sign....19 mile marker.....hate injuries...love big league jam....I could have cried. But I laughed and found some jam and carried on.
They sent me a shirt a few weeks after the race was done. I guess it was a contest and I won. But the real victory was the medal hanging in my car. The real victory was reaching my goal, through hard work and training and perseverance The real victory was the Personal Best time achieved. That weekend in Victoria was very special to me. I achieved all these things as a runner sure, but I also got to know me a little better along the way. Can't wait to do it again this year!Blaze a Trail.
great post Kathy. power of positive thinking
ReplyDeleteI love the feeling that comes when your hard work starts to pay off. be the best you can be....or better.
Hilary
worst thing to wipe out in the middle of the run - amazing how you can pick yourself up after that and carry on, scrapes and all. that's the great thing about setting goals, isn't it? no excuses, dig deep and get it done. love the story.
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling a bit discouraged with the threat of an Achilles flare-up, so your pep talk is welcome. Just have to figure out how to balance the risk of injury with the need to push on. . .
ReplyDeleteI hope your flare up was just that....and you are on the mend...we need to start talking about where we will indulge after the race...:).
ReplyDeleteThanks to my three readers for their comments...lol!