Repeating mantras to yourself while running can be a very powerful tool. They can help you ‘distract yourself from yourself’ and can otherwise help you get into a rhythm, despite the discomfort, fatigue, or distractions that may be going on internally or externally. Though it is important to learn of new mantras, and/or create new ones that work for you, it is perhaps more important to make sure you are using some mantras at the right time.

First, let’s put together a short list of some classic running mantras (there are hundreds more out there)…

Sample Mantras

‘Calm, calm, calm. Relax, relax, relax’

‘Run the mile you’re in’

‘Too much grit to quit’

‘Strong, fast, and relaxed’

‘Shut up legs’

‘Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.’

When to use a mantra

It is easy to go into a marathon with your library of mantras ready to go, maybe even written on your arm or on a posterboard your family and friends are holding. What is also easy is the first half of a marathon, if you did not go out too fast. Instead of burning through your arsenal of mantras when things are easy save it for when things are going tough, i.e. the last 10 miles.

You’ll know it is the right time to use a mantra when the first dozen times you say it to yourself you are feeling anything but that mantra – e.g. ‘I am not calm or relaxed!’, ‘I don’t think I can finish’, ‘I have zero grit’. Now is the time. Repeat, repeat, and repeat that mantra, focusing on the meaning and intent of the words. You are looking for an emotive response (ideally a bit of adrenaline), a refocused mindset, or at the very least a distraction from the fatigue.