Overcome the mental challenge

15 weeks 

until the Half Marathon.

Most training plans are an average of 12 to 15 weeks.  So usually at this point the mind feels there is so much room to slack or play with the rigidity of the schedule.  So I took advantage of that today.
It also helped that I had an attack of mosquitos on my running trail and was forced to hit the parking lot for a while with something different!

This guy was still on me when I got back in my car-
yes that's probably my
blood in his pouch.  

That disruption helped in my decision to finally ditch my original training plan app that I downloaded  last month for a sum of about $19.   (Don't tell my husband!)   It focused on duration of time rather than distance and it absolutely had no clear cut weekly goals that I inspired me.   It advised me to:

"Run at a pace which you feel comfortable at any time. You shouldn't be out of breath.

  Run slowly so that you always have the feeling you could

 "really run a lot faster" if desired."  

WHAT???!!!! 

First of all, I never "DESIRE" to run faster.  Also, I am always keenly aware I can run faster.  OF COURSE  I want to be "comfortable" at all times and I'm comfortable shuffling at the lowest effort possible.  WHO DOESN'T feel that way???

 That training plan's prompt is what my mentality is instinctively - to do the least I have to do.  I don't need to be told to do that, because that's where I'm starting from and I have to do better.  That is

MY GOAL

The original goal for this Half Marathon is to "shave off time" - at least 15 minutes - from my last Half's recorded time.  So being comfortable, trying to not to challenge my lungs, and always knowing I could do better but not doing it, is going to give me the same results I had before.  Only a fool does the same thing over and over expecting a different result!  I can't afford that - even 15 weeks out.

For some reason....and I know what it is... this is more a mental block with me than a physical one.  I KNOW I can do better, because I have done better.  I have had golden miles where my time blew my mind when I saw it on my app!  So it is possible!

What everyone needs to know and never forget is - 

IF YOU HAVE DONE IT ONCE you CAN DO IT AGAIN!  

If for some reason your mind is telling you "YOU CAN'T" and giving you a long list of possible reasons why you can't - then you MUST tell yourself YOU CAN and list all the possible reasons why you can and will! Even if it means you say it to yourself while everything in your body is indicating the opposite.   You have to tear down the wall in your mind first before you can tear down the wall limiting you physically.

It's important on a running journey to know that training isn't just physical, it's mental as well!  In fact so many people start running and quit not because they aren't physically capable but because they aren't capable mentally. (This is really true of anything in life.)

So a training plan MUST incorporate a training plan mentally as well. 

 And some seasons of running is more challenging mentally than others.

Sometimes, an injury causes you to be intimidated to push in that area of your body because you fear being re-injured.   Mental blocks can also come from outside stresses that cloud your focus and you can't seem to concentrate.  Other times, it's only because you have allowed negative thoughts about your physical ability to slowly degrade your physical confidence with a lot of doubt.

I believe I'm having a challenge this time around because I have had so many changes physically and challenges with it that I have allowed it to intimidate me.  Like it or not my body has gotten older. (I said "older' not decrepit!)  In my first Half Marathon I was pare-menopausal and now I am almost post-menopausal!  That's right - I said it!   It's not something to be embarrassed or ashamed!

It's a season of LIFE,

not a DEATH sentence!

Life doesn't stop with menopause and neither should your running or running goals.  HOWEVER, it does require such different ways of keeping your body strong and healthy,  Sometimes I can hardly keep up with it!

Week to week I have to change my normal regimens that used to work so wonderfully but now my body doesn't respond well and needs something different.  There are so many areas from exercise, eating, supplements, sleep routines and even my skin care!   It's like I got a whole new physiology and I'm having to get acquainted with it.   That is the wondrous world of menopause that NO ONE ever talks about - but I'm letting the cat out of the bag!

So I'm having to rebuild confidence and not be afraid to push myself.  My body isn't broke it's just...

 DIFFERENT!

Don't be discouraged at the challenges you might face in your running journey, because that's exactly what it is -

A JOURNEY!

There are always tools to help you.  If the challenge is mentally- use affirmations that you speak to yourself until your mind is renewed to it.  Fill your mind with coaching motivations on your iPod.  Set smaller challenges that you can excel in like short fast sprints, or do just one mile at an awesome time instead of pushing and failing at a 5k.  Then celebrate yourself when you do well at these smaller goals.  The little victories help you face the 5k or the 6 miles because your mind will be like wind in your sails!  

So before you take on new or different physical challenges and goals in your running, overcome the mental challenges.

YOUR BODY CAN NEVER TAKE YOU 

WHERE YOUR MIND HASN'T GONE TO FIRST!

So whatever you do - 

SHOW UP

GET OUT THERE

RUN!