My First Marathon - The Mindset (Part 2 of 3)

 

So we left off at the mind/body connection in Part 1. I neglected to share a couple of important components regarding my training. Along with all the things I wrote about, I was also taking very good care of my body with bodywork. I was going twice a week to F.I.T. Muscle and Joint and getting soft tissue work, blood flow restriction therapy, dry needling and exercises assigned by the awesome Alex Beltrame. He also let me use these incredible recovery boots after my runs! They are the bomb diggety! 

Additionally, I got some massages along the way from the beautiful Jocelyn Costa, visited my amazing Sports Doc Isaac Combs, in Lawrence and saw my chiropractor, Dr. Taylor Phipps! I engaged in strength training sessions three times a week with my long time friend and trainer, Denise Sarver and used the heck out of the Sally McRae App. I wanted my body to be in the best possible health! 

Having confidence that I was taking the very best care of my physical body that I could, helped me to approach the marathon with a positive mindset and spirit!

I began my mindset work by going into meditation and envisioning myself as a marathon runner. Having read all the books I shared in Part 1, I knew that I was doing everything possible to have my body physically ready, but I also knew the most difficult work would happen in my mind. 

I engage in daily meditation. Sometimes it is just a few minutes, and sometimes it lasts for 30 minutes or more. During my meditation as I was training, I would see myself crossing that finish line. I would practice feeling what that was like. I could see the facial expression I would have, and feel the accomplishment I would feel. I would practice in my mind what it might feel like to want to give up along the way, and how I would overcome that. I gave up my negative self-talk about my ability as a runner and began telling myself that I was an excellent runner and that I had been a runner all along, and just didn't know it. I gave myself kuddos for meeting my goals, increasing my mileage, and hitting new times. Similarly to Deena Kastor, my positive self talk and flipping negative beliefs about myself helped me to better handle disappointments and tough runs. She explains in her book, Let Your Mind Run,  

"By identifying a thought that was holding me back and replacing it with a new one to help me forward, I undid years of self-destructive thinking patterns that had left me unhappy and injury prone. And I built better mental habits that not only propelled my success but also prepared me to handle setbacks and challenges." 

The crazy thing about this process is that it not only increased my confidence as a runner, but it increased my confidence in other areas of my life and I have just been happier! Running makes me happy! :) 

(Screen shot from Bank of America Chicago Marathon Facebook Post, that includes Deena Kastor along with the incredible Emily Sisson, Joean Benoit Samuelson and Keira D'Amato) 

Another part of this mindset work revolved around the concept of pain. I know that our brains can play tricks on us and I had read the research regarding pain. In fact, I used to think the saying, “No pain, no gain” was just horrible! However, through the process of training for this marathon, I now have a new appreciation and understanding of pain. Last year as I was training for my first half marathon, I was terrified that if I felt pain, something in my body was broken or damaged. This caused me to stop doing what I was doing...running. Now that is kind of the purpose of pain, right? To make you stop? You put your hand on a hot stove, you get some pain, and you stop putting your hand on the stove. That is one way our pain protects us. But having the strength to endure pain can also produce something beautiful. For example, the pain of childbirth. Honestly, through the pain of my divorce, I gained my life back and eventually gained the husband I kept. ;)  There was a price to pay, but it was worth it. Similarly, training for this marathon was not easy and there was definitely a price to pay, and it definitely involved some level of pain. With the help of my medical and running experts, I learned to recognize when it was ok to run with the pain of my runner's knee (inflammation) without doing any damage, and I learned when I should let my body rest. Through this entire marathon experience, I came to understand my body more intimately and came to understand my mind/body/spirit connection in an entirely different way. It is SO POWERFUL. 

My only regret is that it took me so long to realize I am a runner. The good news is, if I make it to my goal age of 103 years, I have 51 years left to keep running! I am absolutely hooked, and cannot wait for my next marathon. Heck - who knows what else might be next? My marathon experience taught me there is nothing holding me back. I got out of my own way.