Mind Games

Hello there.

I finally ran a good three miles the other day to Highland Park, around the reservoir (see photo), and back. During the run, the app that I use to train (C25K) crashed (of course) and deleted all my progress. At first I freaked out and got really upset because I was living and breathing for those countdowns and split times. But I took a deep breath and tried to be resourceful instead. Most of the tracks in my running playlist are around 3 minutes long so I just timed myself by songs--run for 1 song, walk for 30 seconds (repeat)--and it really wasn't that bad! Doing this actually made running easier than using the app because I let myself get distracted by the song rather than a countdown of when I can stop running.

I've discovered my brain likes to play mind games with my body. Whenever I have a countdown or some sort of anticipation of when things will be over, my body suddenly has an intense urge to quit right then and there. Perhaps that's why self-motivating mantras don't really work for me. When I tell myself, "Ok, Amy, you just have to keep running until the next stop sign," my body suddenly becomes aware of how tired it is and everything starts to hurt. I've also noticed that this goes for other tasks as well. When I do practice board questions and I keep track of what question number I'm on, I have less patience/concentration and am just itching for a break.

Hmmm, so keeping my mind distracted is the key...

How has training been going for you?