If you don’t believe in yourself, try these tips + It is so strange.

(Sweatshirt, tank, shorts, socks, shoes)

It is so strange for me to wake up excited to cross-train.  I don’t get it, and I’m not going to try to understand it either.

I did a 30 minute HIIT and Hills class on my bike and finished way below my PR.  It turns out that biking and running are very similar, some days you fly and some days your body doesn’t want to go fast.  I finished up with a 20-minute leg and glutes class.

It just feels so good to be moving without pain anymore.  Call me dramatic, but I was positive it was going to feel like a knife was shooting into my heel with each step I took for the rest of my life.  I am grateful that it no longer hurts, and I’ll keep doing whatever I can to keep it that way!

We walked to school while we ate blueberry muffins.

Then this little girl had school

Skye got her school pictures back.

Beck was able to break (destroy;) the remote and my $40 water bottle within minutes of each other.  He is getting expensive ha.

I ended the day with one of my favorite meals ever with some girlfriends.  I could eat Massaman Curry every day of my life.

I felt like quite the party animal getting home at 9:15 pm.

Laura sent this to me… and he has a point.

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Some random thoughts that might help you to believe in yourself a bit more in your running (and in life):

*Remind yourself, we all struggle with not believing in ourselves at times.  Even the people you look up to the most don’t always believe in themselves.  There are people that look up to you and would be shocked to know that you don’t always believe in yourself.   I remember being very surprised when I read about Kara Goucher struggling with not believing in herself (or feeling like she belongs) at points in her career.  Sometimes just knowing I’m not alone in a struggle helps me to overcome it!

*Not believing in yourself will only HINDER your athletic performance.  There is zero good in not believing in yourself.  Fake it until you make it, and the more you believe in yourself, the closer you will get to your goals.  You have nothing to lose by believing in yourself.  Maybe you won’t ever hit your goal, but at least you’ll come closer to it because you keep trying because you think you can do it.

*You do not have to believe all of your thoughts.  Just like you get to choose whether or not to believe every random thing you hear/see/read, you get to choose which thoughts you have to believe.  Believe the ones about you succeeding and crushing your running goals.

(source)

*Our training should scare us a bit each week if we go after big things for ourselves.  In 2019 with marathon training, when we would get our workouts for the week, I would SERIOUSLY laugh/freak out over some of them because I thought there was no way they could happen.  But they did.  Eventually, I stopped doubting my ability to do them and put the energy I wasted not believing in myself into the workouts and getting even faster.

*Sometimes, I have to remind myself not to take running so seriously.  It’s my hobby.  This usually helps me enjoy the process more and put less pressure on myself = I don’t have thoughts of not belonging/succeeding.

*Think back to previous successful moments you’ve had… In your workouts, your races, your goals.  Write them down and look at that list anytime that you doubt yourself.

*Let Your Mind Run… it changed my mental game with running!

*It took me eight years to reach the goal I longed for so badly (sub 3).  I had many training cycles when I was fit enough to get that sub 3, but I wouldn’t because I didn’t believe in myself the closer I got to race day (especially during the race).  The most significant change in getting that 2:59 was the mental work I did.  I started to honestly believe in myself.  If you feel like you are plateauing even though you are working as hard as you possibly can physically, maybe it’s time to focus on the mental side of your training.  I have a post here that talks a lot more in detail about what I did differently.

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Do you stick to one brand of running/workout shoes, or do you have a few different brands in your closet?

Any books/websites/sources that you use to help you with your mental game and running?

Tell me your run or workout today?

Would you rather do a race far away or close to home?