I dunno - I've been on both sides of the BQ now, and I'm not sure that I did anything mentally different to achieve my goal. However, I have learned a few tricks that seem to work for me. - I must not push too hard on the uphills - I must not expend too much effort in the first mile or two. It's not necessary to bob and weave around the crowd which just wastes energy. - Feeling bad does not always last. I have had bad miles that are followed by good miles. So I no longer panic if I start struggling. I know it's possible that it will pass. - I'm not afraid to walk through water stops - When I'm struggling, I try to think about how easy this is compared to what others have gone through or are going through in their lives. This really isn't that big a deal in the grand scheme, and I can tough this out. - I celebrate reaching particular milestones, and even look forward to the tougher parts of the course so that I can check them off. - I stick to my nutrition plan, even if I feel kinda sick later in the race. It's tempting to skip that last gel when you just don't feel like ingesting anything. - I visualize crossing the finish line with a great time on the clock and a big smile on my face - If it's truly not my day, I revise my goals, and try not to beat myself up. Every marathon is different, and they can't all be PRs. If this was easy or predictable, the successes wouldn't be as rewarding. Good luck, Bill!

Hi everyone. This thread is sooooo inspiring. I,m doing the 5K this Sat. the day before the Eugene Marathon, and will be thinking about this group. An interesting book partly about this subject and especially on flow, is "Flow in Sports" by Jackson and Csikszentmihayi (yep, a real name) Happy, positive runs WoodsLady, aka Maecono