Chicken Soup for the Soul by Amy Newmark & Dean Karnazes

Author:Amy Newmark & Dean Karnazes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicken Soup for the Soul

Training My Mind

Turn down the volume of your negative inner voice and create a nurturing inner voice to take its place.

~Beverly Engel, The Nice Girl Syndrome

A few years ago, when I set a pie-in-the-sky goal to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I followed a training plan, did everything I should have, and worked hard, but my mental confidence was never really there. Some days, I was strong, but most of the time I was exhausted — not by the miles, but by the fight with my thoughts. After missing my goal by a matter of minutes, I decided it was not my body that needed to train harder. It was my mind.

So I set out to do a little experiment in my local 5K. I vowed to keep track of every negative thought that came in, and replace it with a positive one, just to see what happened.

I love the 5K distance because it always pushes me to run a little faster than I am used to. The most challenging part of a 5K for me, though, is the runners around me. There have been countless races in which I should have finished first, but I let the other competitors and my negative self-talk get the best of me. I have always had issues with crumbling under pressure.

So I decided to try out this strategy. So simple, right? For every negative thought that came in, I would replace it with a positive one. I just needed to be aware of all of my thoughts. That was my only goal for this race — not a personal record, not to win — just to control my thoughts.

As I lined up at the start, I put myself behind a sea of what had to be the local girls’ cross-country team. Great.

My first negative thought came in… I am at least 20 years older than these girls. I followed it with a positive one… Yup, and you have 20 years of experience on them. They don’t stand a chance.

As I stood there anxiously, I felt my heart start to pound and my legs get shaky. Good, use that energy.

The gun went off, and three girls sprinted like a bat out of hell ahead of me. Negative thought: Crap. Positive thought: Don’t worry, you know how those young ones can be. They don’t know how to pace. Get close to them, but don’t worry.

About a half-mile in, I checked my pace: 6:15.

Negative: I can’t keep that! Positive: Says who? You feel fine. Relax your shoulders and settle here.

I ended up being right behind the lead girl by mile 1, and I decided to just hang there. But shortly after that decision, I noticed she started to lose a bit of steam.

I started off negative: Don’t go now. Just stay here where it’s safe. And then I recovered and thought, What? You feel strong right now. Give a little push here.

So I surged past her and had a serious boost of confidence and energy as I took the lead.

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