My mantra this entire year has been a version of that: "mental toughness." I'll admit it has no poetic ring but I felt like I had plenty of mental toughness my first couple of years of running and lost it last year. That mantra is why I haven't quit at Mile 4 of planned 6 mile tempo runs or at repeat # 5 of 7 x 1,000 this year and I'm convinced it's one of the main reasons I set a new PR at the HM distance.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
Skirt Runner
PRs: 5K- 28:16 (5/5/13) 10K- 1:00:13 (10/27/13) 4M- 41:43 (9/7/13) 15K- 1:34:25 (8/17/13) 10M- 1:56:30 (4/6/14) HM- 2:20:16 (4/13/14) Full- 5:55:33 (11/1/15)
I started a blog about running :) Check it out if you care to
I've never had any problem with sucking it up while exercising. It's when I crouch on my knees to scrub the tub, then the shower and then the floor, that I cry a little. That's when I really need a "Suck it up, Buttercup. You ain't the Queen of England..."
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
Don't call me Buttercup!
LOL I *heart* you.
Slow and steady wins the.... wait a second! I've been lied to!
delicate flower
I think "Dude, relax." is a mantra I ought to use a little more often.
<3
Beer-and-waffle Powered
+1 to HTFU, especially if you're on a bike.
I also like thinking "it doesn't hurt enough".
In the words of my late-coach : Just hang in there, relax... and at the end of a race anyone you see.....just pass them
More cowbell!
HTFU works nicely as well.
Not really. For me, that acronym has a very wimpy association. Last year I did my first Columbus Fall Challenge, a 2-day, 210-mile bike tour that has ~17,000 ft of climbing. The weather the first day was mid-40's and raining, and I saw two vehicles with the HTFU bumper sticker drive away from the parking lot with their bikes on top before we even started.
STILL HAVING FUN!!!
I'm constantly thinking "relax, relax" during my runs, even during tempos and speed work. But when it all starts to really fall apart, I start cursing my head off... all the real bad ones, too.
I've embarassed myself a few times and had to say "excuse me" when I didn't realize I was around normal people.