Don't Believe Everything You Think

* Dear readers, if you follow my second blog (dana-onethousandmilesthisyear.blogspot.com) you may feel you are reading the same entry. This is actually a different writing spun off the other, if you read through to the end.

“Pick a subject,” Ricardo said. “Let’s not focus on our suffering.” Six miles into a seven-mile run, we were both tired.

Earlier in the run, we tackled some crazy hills, and the last one took a lot out of me. We were only half way through our distance. If Ricardo wasn’t ahead of me by fifty steps, I might’ve bailed and started walking or sat in the snow and started crying.

When I finally caught up to him around mile four, I was winded and tired. I scanned my body. From my neck down, I felt just fine. I realized I just THOUGHT I was winded and tired. My mind was tired.

I’ve learned to never underestimate the power of the mind. In running, my mind is often my worst enemy. It can convince me that I can’t finish this run or that the run is too hard for me. It also asks me why the hell I do this in the first place.

My mind convinces me of a lot of things, and not all of them are true. My favorite bumper sticker reads, “Don’t believe everything you think.” This phrase pops into my brain when I fall into a negative thinking pattern. In this case, with running, I have learned to not focus on my “suffering” because I’m not really suffering. I’m often just fine. I just think I’m not.

To finish the run and still enjoy it, I needed to shift my attitude – and FAST. Once I realized this, I reset myself, mentally. I had to make a very conscious decision to stop thinking ABOUT the run and how I THOUGHT I felt and focus my mind on something completely different. I started talking about the jicama I just bought at the grocery store, which led to him sharing what he knew about jicama, which led to a conversation about some soccer games, which led to talk about the timing of our run, and so on.

This is when a running partner is a great asset. The company is great, and I’m less likely to give into my mind telling me that I can’t do this because the person next to me keeps moving. If he moves, I move. The partner helps keep motivation strong and movement forward.

Then we fell silent. That’s when Ricardo said, “Pick a subject. Let’s not focus on our suffering.” I was right with him, mentally. I had already overcome the mental challenge of this run. I knew I would finish and I would be fine. I was not letting my mind convince me otherwise. I picked another subject, and we continued to talk through the rest of the run.

When we rounded the final corner to my apartment, I felt strong, mentally and physically. I felt good for pushing my body and my mind. If I listened to my mind early on in the run, I might still be sitting in that snow!