Chicago W12D2 - STRENGTH 4 X 1.5 miles
Oh man! This workout went so well! It was one of those workouts that makes you forget all of the bad runs and just made me feel amazing.
When I got home from work, I did not want to do this. I wanted to sit on my couch and be lazy. But after procrastinating for a bit and having a handful of pretzels, I made my way outside.
I recently watched this youtube video (ps watch her videos! I’m obsessed with Kelly Roberts lately and her BQ or bust videos are really giving me inspiration). The video talks all about the mental side of running. One focus was on being mindful and non-judgmental of the moment you’re in. It talks about how to avoid negative thoughts and to turn them into positive ones, and how to focus your thoughts on the current moment and be present. Even if that moment is hard, even if it hurts, you just need to accept it and keep going. Another focus is if your thoughts are accurate or inaccurate. If the weather is hot, that is accurate. If you’re saying you can’t do this, that is inaccurate. You don’t know you can’t do it until you try.
So I decided to incorporate these ideas into my run tonight. And my goodness did it make things go so much better! Each repeat I didn’t worry about what else was to come. Usually I focus on how many repeats I have left and try to use that to make myself feel better. But last night I just focused on the one I was in. I focused on my form, how I felt, and occasionally would look at my watch to see my pace/distance. But really I focused on how I felt. Even when I got tired and my legs started to burn, I turned the way I was thinking around on it. Rather than thinking “omg this sucks my legs hurt I can’t breathe I need to slow down and recover”, I would think “yes, my legs hurt. Yes, this is hard. But these repeats are what are going to make me stronger on race day. This hill that I’m battling is making me stronger for race day”. My thinking shifted from “this is terrible” to “this is making me stronger”. And to just focus on the repeat that I was in helped SO much. I never got overwhelmed by what I still had to do. I just didn’t think about it. I thought about what I was currently doing and how it was benefiting me. Yes it was hard and yes I was hurting and felt like I couldn’t breathe, but I kept my focus strong and kept moving.
And all of this translated into a very successful workout! I was SO SO happy when I saw my paces at the end. I felt so incredible that I had focused so well and felt so proud of my efforts. This was really an attitude changing workout. Just being mindful of all of the things happening really shifted my focus and helped me have a very successful workout. And I am beyond pleased with it! :)
Okay, enough rambles for now! But I hope you all watch the video and that it helps you! It sure helped me :)
