Cheerleading and Speed.

I totally had braces but only for one year. I got them in 8th grade and off before my freshman year of high school ended.

I totally agree with being your own cheerleader. Positivity is key!!

I love this thought and am going to try it out! I sometimes have a problem with negative thoughts when things don't go just right, but I know from experiences in life that faking it till you make it really works. I don't know why I didn't translate that to running before now!

And thsi awesome post is just in time for my first half in 48ish hours!!!

I love this, and agree 100%! It's like my post yesterday about being yourself AND believing in yourself. So important!

I had braces in 6th & 7th grade – my most awkward years ever. 8th grade was pretty bad, too. I was my biggest cheerleader when I went in for the interview with lululemon. I was confident and comfortable in my own skin. And it paid off. Hope you continue to heal, Janae! I'm praying you'll be back in running action asap, but in the meantime, I'm proud of you for working on the mental side of running!

Oh braces. I thought they were the bane of my existence. I still hate that stage of my life. You at least looked cute. I was just ugly.

So true about being your own cheerleader! I feel like I do this with so many areas of my life.

Look at you gorgeous girl!! You are a kick BUTT runner, and we are all so proud of you and pulling for you!! I had braces in middle school and it was so painful/gross but it worked because now my teeth are super straight:)

I LOVED THIS POST! i love them all, but it seems like this one came from DEEP in the heart of janae. :) it honestly made me want to go outside and run! i can't wait to hear how you are back at it and all healed up!

i NEVER wore braces but always wanted to. weird i know. i used to put rubber bands in between my teeth and pretend.

i am just now trying to work on the speedy thing, but i TOTALLY agree with you on the mental part of running. sometimes i get myself so worked up over having to run an 8 minute mile that i have to go to the bathroom! STUPID!!!! i always laugh to myself and realize that 8 min miles are warmups for you! :)

keep truckin janae! and don't come visit my blog today. it hasn't changed since last time you commented. i've been too BUSY working! SIGH

Your cheerleading picture is too cute! I had braces from the 7th-9th grade but I was totally akward and oddball looking! Unfortunately I did not wear my retainer and would love to get braces again! ::slaps hand:: bad teenager!

I really need to work on my inner cheerleader! When I'm running I tend to think about how sucky I'm doing but I'm going to try making up some cheers. I really think you should share yours to give us newbs some ideas! ;)

I'm really glad you used the bomb.com. Seriously my favorite phrase in the whole wide world. I agree though and I look myself in the mirror every morning and tell myself that I am the bomb.com.

I had braces from 13-15. So glad that's behind me! One of my friends has Invisalign (spelling?!) and her teeth look SO good. I wish that was around when I had braces!

Ummm… i love your cheerleading picture! DARLING! I was a cheerleader all through high school. :)

I've tried the positive self talk a few times and it really does help. I need to do it ALL the time!!

I wanna see more pics of the cheerleader Janae!!!

YOU are incredible!
Runners World Quote Of The Day: "Winners say what they want to happen. Losers say what they feel will happen"
That quote got me thinking and it's funny how you posted about this the same day :)

I am guilty of being my worst cheerleader. I need to work on that!
I mean, I'm a single Mom of 3, work 40 hours a week, go to school full-time, drive 2 boys around and attend baseball practice/games 5 out of 7 days a week, teach spin classes yet disappointed that I "only" run 20-25 miles a week. What is wrong with me!? Thanks for this post girlfriend! xoxo

Great post! I've tried to explain to people why I run so much, and my answer is always for the mental challenge. It takes a lot of mind over matter strength to succeed at most things, especially in running :)

in the San Antonio RockNRoll marathon this last November I was looking to BQ. I had proven it through all my training. However, a few miles into the race there was… i kid you not… a train that stopped the whole thing. Imagine hundreds of runners standing there watching this never ending train go by. At that point I mentally sabotaged myself.

Because there were now so many people there we were stuck in this huge pack of people, couldn't pass anyone, elbow to elbow… and i started weaving and being NOT smart. At mile 18 I was still on track to BQ. Then I started 2nd guessing myself. By mile 20 I had slowed down and after that… it was over.

We really can be our own worst enemy or our bestest friend during our runs or races. If i had calmed myself down and not panicked about the stupid train and just gone with the flow- I could've done it. Esp. because I later found out that they changed everyone's time due to the "unscheduled train incident". The races that I start off without a care or time goal and just a good attitude are the ones I get PRs. Crazy how that works sometimes. :) We all just need to be a little nicer to ourselves!

I love this post! I am running a half marathon this Saturday and hadn't really thought about being my own biggest cheerleader…but now I am going to go start writing cheers I can say to myself! :)

oh you are too cute! I have the same picture, with braces!! love it.
You are right, we have to be our cheerleader as well. Our confidence needs to be in our faith and in our hearts, and that will give us strength. You have that!
:)

Thanks! I'm sure at least some of this post was meant for me. It's just super hard to stay motivated and positive when I've been bed (or bathroom) ridden with three bouts of the flu in the last two weeks. Seriously. I have lost over 10 lbs and most of that muscle. I know I need to rest. I mean, I can't physically go out and run, but then I start worrying about not being prepared for 26.2 when 12 still seems painful because of my blips in training. Okay, enough negative. My body IS going to recover! It will be okay!

I had braces TWICE! I got them off my senior year of high school! I also had to have spikes in my mouth… it was terrible!!

The key to my speed is a full bladder. I usually hydrate before a race and I refuse to destroy my time by using a porter potty..so I run my fastest for the bathroom.
Also I love when races have "pace bunnies" I pick one which is just a little ahead of what I think I can do and then I chase it and refuse to leave its side.

Great post! I've had the exact same experiences with my workouts. A positive attitude always yields better results.

I'd have never guessed you were a cheerleader! There's no way I would've made the squad, even if I did know someone on the team!

No braces…but an awesome retainer!

We do need to remember to cheer ourselves on…you are SO right :)
My favorite "own best cheerleader" story is really old (20 years). At the PanAm trials we were so totally the underdogs, and we knew it. We also KNEW we were incredibly fast, untested against competition, perfectly trained and prepared for this set of races. In the final, we were up on 2nd place by a good bit w/ about 1/4 of the race to go. I remember looking at them (they were friends of mine and super nice women) and thinking, "oh,well…if we're going to lose I'm glad it'll be to them" and I felt us 'sag' and instantly did a mind-slap! "NO! You deserve this! You're fast and nice and have busted your a** for THIS…this win, this race! Now GO!" And we went and we won :)

Good rest, solid base prep then add hills or stairs once a week or every other week or intervals/repeats, and a tempo run once a week or every other as well. The frequency depends on your level of training intensity and life balance :)

you are amazing! always remember that! :) and you are inspiration to so many!!
I never had braces or anything on my teeth but I tried to fake needing a retainer bc my cousin had one and I wanted to do everything she did. However I found out you can't "fake" needing a retainer. haha.

great advice! power of positive thinking!! ps. i totally agree with the adele album, downloaded it last week and i love it.

I have to say… I thought you had bunny ears on in your cheerleading picture because of how your shoes were in the background. I'm a little SLOW!

Did you get the email I sent you awhile back of the picture of the Boston marathon poster I took? I thought of you when I saw it and sent it to some hotmail address you had posted in a blog.

You're going to KICK A** in Boston!

no braces here.

Only ran a handful of races, so not sure if I have enough experiences to look back on. However, my first half marathon (of two) was the one with the best time.

I'm not sure that I'm speedy yet, but I've gotten speedier throughout my current training by incorporating more core work (boot camp class and stability ball at home) and by doing consistent speed work & some hills. I feel that my posture while running has improved greatly since starting weekly boot camp back in December.

I think the reason I didn't do as well as I had hoped for my second half marathon last fall is that my speed work suffered greatly over the summer when temperatures were consistently in the 90s. I did all the miles required in my training plan, but probably half the speedwork. I should have sucked it up and done more speed work inside on the treadmill.

yes… i had braces ALL through high school…. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Oh I definitely had braces. I also had a herbst appliance to fix my bad overbite. it's terrifying looking. and yes, it was painful. I dare you to google it.

also, I build my confidence by getting on the bike. anytime I'm having a lame-o run on the treadmill, I get on the bike and it loosens up whatever the problem was. then, when I get back on the treadmill, I have a great run. it always works. other than that, I sing to myself. other runners may find it weird – especially since I don't use an ipod anymore – but it works!

I'd love for you to comment on my latest blog entry if you have time :)

Great post!! It's funny, because I just read this article from Runner's World about positive thinking and how mantras actually work the other day, and was thinking about posting about positive thinking! (http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244–13819-2-1-2,00.html)

I try REALLY hard to catch myself during races (and runs, too, but especially during races) when I start to think negatively. I try instead to tell myself I'm strong and awesome, etc. I also like running music that gets me pumped up (at the end of my 10 miler last weekend I had "Sexy Chick," "Stronger," and "Don't Hold Back." It was perfect:)!! Also, when I was passing people on the steep hills I was telling them (in my head) that I was so much more hard core than them, haha! (I didn't really mean it, but you gotta get yourself pumped up one way or another:).

I think this positive thinking stuff also applies to life! I find myself getting so frustrated and being hard on myself when I get behind on school work. I need to start learning to be my own cheerleader in the rest of my life, too!!

This post is at the perfect time! I'm going to need some self motivation on Sunday for my FIRST HALF MARATHON EVER! WOO! I WILL be awesome! :) Thank you!

I totally had braces, the worst part is that before and after you couldn't see a difference. Oh yea, and since I had the bar taken out of my mouth, my teeth have shifted and my dentist keeps trying to get me to get a retainer. Nope. I'm going crooked.

Not only be your own cheerleader, but also be that tough coach that yells to work harder or do an extra mile. When I feel myself getting lazy I have to toughen the cheerleader up!

Um, homegirl, I had braces for SEVEN YEARS!

Hi Janae,
Firstly, I wanted to tell you that you're my favorite blog to read!! I love your positive attitude about running and life in general.

I had a moment back in high school when I realized that I could help myself to run better just by being positive. We were doing a tempo workout and in the beginning, I felt really bad about myself and was not doing well. After a few minutes, I realized that I was holding myself back just by thinking negatively and once I shifted my mindset, I started to feel like I was flying and blazed past everyone on my team. It was the best feeling ever!!!

Positive thinking is everything when it comes to running.

Keep up the good work!!

-Catriona

thanks for the post
the attitude you bring to a race makes all the difference
especially when your putting a lot of pressure on yourself to reach your goal at a certain race. Over coming the fear of failure and self doubt is the hardest part of a race

What an interesting theory!

I had a great race last week, and I wonder what to attribute it to. I wasn't particularly cheerleadering myself — I had doubts until the 12th mile — but I also wasn't fully down on myself.

I think the biggest speed motivator for me, is the blogging community. Knowing I want to report back a good time, or hearing positive words from others, is the boost that I need. I'm sure you know exactly what I mean!!

I had braces for 2.5 years. I'm so glad that that time of my life is over.
I loved this post. It's just in time for my race this saturday, my first official race of the season! Sometimes I feel defeated when I am passed, but if I can motivate myself to stick to that person or just remind myself to push as hard as I can, I usually am happy with the outcome. Not every race will be the perfect race, but you have to make the best of it!

I've never had braces but, I had a retainer at one time. You have very nice teeth so, your braces were worth every penny!! :) BTW I think that you have very beautiful hair!

"ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE!!" I believe that we are at times our worst enemies. Sometimes we can be so mean to ourselves! When we water our seeds with positivity we can grow a beautiful garden!!

I use the treadmill to increase my speed. I like numbers and the treadmill helps me to get out of my comfort zone. I think that it has really helped me!

HAVE A GREAT EVENING!

Oh my god, I needed this post today! I had a tough track workout this morning – mile repeats at 5:45am in the dark, windy rain. I was a few seconds slower than I wanted to be for each repeat, and I was totally beating myself up about it and getting really upset. I was saying things in my head that I would NEVER say to a friend – funny how we're always so much harder on ourselves!! Thanks for reminding me that I am AWESOME and I am going to rock this upcoming marathon!!

HEY BEAUTIFUL! I HAVE MISSED YOU SOOO MUCH!! I Am back for good tho- and am dying to catch up on you and your amazing self! LOVE YOU BEAUTIFUL

This is totally true. Once you start beating yourself up during a run- then you are done-zo. No coming back from that. It just leaves a sour taste in your mouth. I also had braces- in the 9th grade. It's horror to have braces in high school.

Yup I had braces.

If I have the right tunes on my Ipod… its all over. I will drop the hammer and not even think about the pain haha.

I had braces in college to treat jaw problems and it was awful! No one that old should have braces.

I need to work a lot more on being my own cheerleader. I haven't really run enough races to have developed that skill, but I could at least start trying during my long runs. I could use a bit more self confidence.

My key to being speedy is that I am not. And I'm mostly ok with that since I'm pretty new at this. I'm going to start focusing on speed after finishing a half for the first time.

I never wanted braces so I neglected to get them, even though I NEEDED them! Finally when I was 22 I got invisalign, after a push from my now ex-bf. I can't thank him enough, I love my teeth now and am always smiling like this :D instead of this :) haha.

I race cars, and a couple times last year I kept telling myself I was doing great – I can pass the next guy, I can finish in the top 5, top 3, maybe win ;) And it definitely helped! I posted some of my best races thus far.

I'm so cool, I had braces twice. Once just wasn't enough.

I loved having you on cheer and whether you believe it or not you were AWESOME at it! I love your words of encouragement and how we all need to be our own cheerleader. Oh yeah, and I had braces too–and HATED them. HA!

I had braces from 8th-10th grade. Was SO excited when they came off! I am jealous of the kids now that get those invisible ones… those would have been great.

I think better than being your own biggest cheerleader is being other people's cheerleaders. That is a big part of why I love pacing marathons. I get a second wind from cheering other people on! Sometimes when I am not pacing, other people think I must have so much energy because I am cheering them on, but it's more of a fake-it-till-you-make-it kind of thing – if I am exhausted, I start cheering for other people, and that makes me feel like I DO have the energy, so then I run better! Win-win.