‘I’m done, exhausted, I might have to quit.’

‘Very uncomfortable, every step, I don’t think I can handle this.’

‘This is too much, pace is too fast, I have to slow down.’

Navigating your negative self-talk can be tough when the voice is talking so loudly! In these moments, you know you are not injured and do not feel any ‘pre-injury’ symptoms, you just feel you are at our limit. Your legs are burning and are pleading your brain to complain asap. You are unsure if you want to listen, so you keep pushing. Unfortunately, like many, while pushing through this discomfort, you end up paying more attention to those tired legs. Eventually you end up only listening to your legs and that voice ends up dominating the day.

On those days and in those moments when you are running pain-free, are midway through a tough workout, and your legs are trying to plead with you to go home, try ‘flipping the script’ by paying less attention to your legs and less attention to negative self-talk that is seeping through.

Distraction techniques:

– Count your exhales to 100, and when you lose count, start counting again

– Repeat a mantra 50 times, like ‘strong, fast, and relaxed’. If you don’t feel like any of those words you know you are using the montra at the right time! Keep repeating, over and over.

– Focus on a one part of your biomechanics at a time: 10 reps of your R knee lifting, then 10 reps of L knee lifting, 10 reps of your R arm swing, 10 of your L arm, etc.

– Try to visualize a motivating person or scene, getting into detail of expressions, contours, colors.

– Run with a partner or club