April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life.
This week's topic is breaking through the mental wall. Our worst enemy is usually ourselves. Sometimes we can psych ourselves out and it can be really hard to continue: to break through that wall.
How do I usually go about this? Well it is hard! I used to never have this problem, I was confident in what I could do and I honestly believe that if you can plan it out and get organized, you can do almost anything. However, as I have gotten busier with work, especially with starting school, things have gotten pretty tough this summer. I am busier than ever and even though I love it, it is still very tough trying to balance everything. We have also a very warm summer and it has made for some crazy training runs and lead to many negative thoughts. While training for
I remember the first day I failed at completing a distance I set out to finish. I was so sad and it really shook my confidence. I had to learn to get over this little things (because in the scheme of life, it really is a #firstworldproblem and doesn't matter) and realize that 1 failure, or 1 set back as I prefer to look at it, is a part of life and you need to learn to roll with it.
As I said, I had some mental worries with Dumbo training as well as anxiety over Dopey and 5k+Glass Slipper Challenge. I try to face those challenges head on and make sure I am keeping up with my training to improve my endurance and strength. With Dumbo, I only missed a few training runs the whole time, and none of my long training runs. When it came time for Dumbo and the weather was a bit better but not much, I was worried. It was the most trying week of my life before the race and I was very worried. The 10k I was exhausted and worried about the next day. However, I tried to sleep as much as I could and stretched and rolled and on the Disneyland half the next day, I rocked it. I felt GREAT and even though I did not make my time goal, I was very happy with my performance. I KNOW I can do Dopey and 5k+Glass Slipper Challenge. Now, my mental issues will be with doing Dopey followed by Rebel Challenge which will hopefully be calmed by my fears of doing wine and dine and Avengers back to back.
What do I do when the going gets tough on my runs? I go back to my mantras! My favorite lately (and the one I used yesterday) was "Fall PRs are made in the hot and humid summer". As I am gearing up for taking on my Fall plans and my ambitious half PR in October, that mantra is becoming everything. I just need to remember my training will take me far and I can make it through!
How do you break through the wall?