All Is Quiet On The Western Front

I was just looking on here the other day and realised how long it had been since anyone had posted on here. It certainly has been a while. Has it been because we haven't been doing anything, has it been because we've been too lazy or have we just been too busy. I know what my excuse is, but what about the others?

For me, the truth is simply that I've lost some of my motivation and with that I've been focusing on other things. After the marathon there wasn't much for me to target towards, yes I had two sprint triathlons but I also knew I could complete those as they were nothing new. I guess the thing with me is that I need something to train for because at the moment the best motivation is just completing something. I've discovered that if the event is something big that I haven't done before then I'm more likely to train for it out of fear of failure.

What I need to do now is to get motivation to finish these races in a good time, and not just get round. I've got a completely different challenge coming up next year, hopefully between now and then I'll get motivated to go fast as well.

The Wannabe

Fighting Talk

Now, I'm not talking about the banter between myself and "The Guru" as that is banter, pure and simple. I'm talking about some sort of mantra that can keep a guy like me going through 26.2 miles of road running in just under 2 weeks time.

There's a well know saying that goes something like,

"If you think you're beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't,
If you like to win but you think you can't, It's almost sure you won't,
If you think you'll lose, you've lost.
Success begins with a fellow's will,
It's all in the state of the mind."

From what I understand there have been studies on the usefulness of mantras and they say that positive self-talk can reduce anxiety, increase effort and boost self-confidence. This is something that I have always believed. If you think you are a lucky person your subconscious mind is automatically more attentive and observant whereas if you think you are unlucky you invariably wont notice that £10 note laying on the pavement as you walk past it. From memory it's also got something to do with the reticular motor in your brain which regulates how much you take in of what you see through your eyes. I digress though, basically there is lots of evidence showing that what we say to ourselves can influence what we say to ourselves can influence how we feel and how we perform (Runners World).

I can't just copy other people's mantras, like "This is what you came for, you're in command" as it needs to be meaningful, relevant and specific to my needs. It needs to be positive, short, energetic and to embed some sort of instructions. As the people of Runners World say, I've got to build it, believe it and become it.

Being less than 2 weeks to the marathon now I'm focusing my mind more towards the race day and the actual race. I'm getting my kit together, thinking about meals and visualising running through those mileage points that I know are going to be difficult. I haven't thought of my mantra yet, but on the back of the first London Marathon I earned it says "It's not the taking part that counts, it's the finishing" and I can't wait to see what this one will say.

The Wannabe.