It’s Tuesday, so that mean’s I am linking up with Patty, Erika, and Marcia for

This week’s topic is Mental Training Tips & Tricks…

The struggle to get out there and put the training in is real at times and I truly believe that running is a mental sport as much as it is a physical sport.  Most of my battle is just getting started, what do I do just to get myself out of the bed and out the door?

Visualizing the My End Goal…Most mornings my main motivation to get myself to lace up the shoes and get out there is pretty simple, my end goal.  I am not that type of runner that gets out there just to run. Why anyone runs just to run is beyond me. I have to have a purpose, or more importantly a runDisney or race-cation in the future that I am training for.  I imagine myself running around the actual course and where I would be each step in relation to my current run distance. Imagining running through Cinderella’s Castle or around the World Showcase are favorite mental images.

Fear of Failure …I am a back of the pack runner and I know that when it comes to finishing a race pixie dust is not going to get me to the finish line, only faithful training. There is an intense fear of failure that is my motivation, I don’t want to be the last person across the finish line. I have been there and it is was such an unpleasant experience that I care never to repeat.  More importantly I don’t want to be swept and not finish, because I don’t want others to know I failed at what I said I was going to do.  My running life was all started with a quote by Walt Disney…

It is my own personal mantra to people in my life who have not believed me.

But what about those mornings when the thoughts Mickey bars, girl’s trips and ladies chasing me while running with balloons are not enough? My biggest mental training tip would be..

Reminding Myself I am in Charge..A few years ago, I attended a running camp with Jeff Galloway and he ended with a statement that has stuck with me very time I run…”You are the captain of your own running ship.”  No one is making me get out there and run, this is something I am choosing to do.  (Okay maybe not entirely true, my mommy/wife guilt of being selfish and wanting to go on vacation with the girls plays a huge part in my motivation…running is my justification.) Seriously though, if am not just feeling it at the moment, I know the most important thing is to get out there…and if I need to walk more than run that is okay, I give myself permission just to get the distance in.

My advice it to really think about why you are out there in the first place, that usually is the biggest motivation to continue to fight through the runs that are filled with self-doubt and negative thoughts.  Running is a personal sport, empower yourself and give yourself permission to make it that…about you!