Mentality Check

DEFINITION:
men·tal·i·ty [men-tal-i-tee]
1. mental ability
2. characteristic mental attitude
(from dictionary.com)

Like I mentioned in my previous blog, I was never a runner and never liked running. Therefore, my mental attitude towards running was not so great...I literally stayed away from running whenever possible. It is ironic that now I have to run, no matter what!!

I didn't know what I got myself into when I signed up for 2 half marathons...all I wanted was the blings, but didn't know how hard I was gonna have to work to be able to run 13.1 miles! I knew there was no WAY I could run the whole thing without stopping so I knew interval running was the way to go. So I started interval training.

I started training around June. The summer in south Georgia is HOT but I knew I had to start as soon as possible and couldn't wait to start when it got cooler because it'll be too late then. It wasn't so hard going back to running since my last run was in May. But I noticed that I couldn't push myself up! I keep trying to run longer but I couldn't...it felt like someone or something kept stopping my whole body from running...I wanted to do more than 2-3 miles that I had been doing but I just couldn't!

July passed by with no improvements to my running, then came August, back to school time. By then I started to doubt myself that maybe it was too early for me to sign up for half marathon and maybe I was NOT meant to be a runner...

One day I was at Staples and saw Kristen, Betsy's friend who also ran the half marathon in January. She asked me about my training and told her my problems that I had been dealing with...and her response was that I wasn't mentally ready and that my mentality was blocking from doing my best. Wow....she was so right! Didn't realize it until someone told me!

So for the next 2 months as I was preparing for my 3rd 5k, I worked hard to train my brain as well as my body for the race! The race went well and even though the time wasn't what I wanted, I felt great after the race and mentally, I was ready for the race.

Once the race was over, I had no time to relax and went back straight to my training. My next race was 10k. I am finally comfortable with running 3 miles, now I have to move up to 6 miles! But I hit another road block...another mental block. I could NOT pass 3 miles during my training!

One day in October, weeks before my 10k, I was chatting with my princess runners and told them I was going to try for 4 miles that day. I kept telling myself that I could do 4 and slowly move on up to 6. Everybody was so encouraging and gave me encouraging words on the chat...except Betsy...She typed "Do 5...you can do it!"....5 miles!?!? I have been struggling to get to 3 miles and she's telling me to run 2 more miles!?!?!? Well, I went out that door with a plan in mind...run 5 miles like Betsy told me to do....I don't know what had possessed my body but I DID IT! I had ran 5 miles and that was my longest run ever!! After I finished, I got right back on the chat group and told everybody! I felt great and felt like I could have kept running! (but stopped because it got dark and was getting late!!). That's when I first felt my mentality changed from "I can't do this!" to "I am going to DO IT doggone it!"

The following week, I challenged myself to run 6 miles and I did it with no problem. Now I am able to do longer miles without having the feeling of something stopping me from doing it. I noticed that as I was training my legs and body for 13.1 miles, I was also training my mentality. That's when I realized that I am now a runner! I don't know where I would be today mentally if I didn't have a friend/coach pushing me to do what I'm capable of!

Betsy is not just my friend or a Disney fanatic that I can talk to about anything Disney....she's also my coach (whether she realizes this or not). She's constantly pushing me to do what I'm capable of and formed me into a runner....and because of her, I am where I am today and I thank her for that!

So if you're a newbie runner like me and struggling with your running mentality, just turn to your runner friends and just listen to them. They are there to help you, and not to discourage you!

My awesome coach and her hubby (the running MACHINE!!)