One thing that was nagging at me after my 22 mile run is after 18 miles I started to run out of energy and this hit my motivation. My body was telling my mind why you doing this I am tired and my body was in control, when in fact my mind should be leading my body, telling my body to dig in and get on with it.
In summary body wins I give up, mind wins I dig in and continue.
I find this relationship very interesting it is easy to think about these things after the run but when you are in the situation it is hard to think clearly and I suppose that is why people develop a mantra that focuses the mind.
Oh yes, mantras are a long distance runners able companion. I had a saying when training for the Peak District "The hills are my friends" Each syllable was a foot step. You may sometimes have heard me talk about "A nice cup of tea" this is my reward at the end and if I want distraction I am often heard saying "Two sugars or three" and "One bag or two" then a combination of the number of bags and lumps.
ReplyDeleteTotally "un-Chi" like but still a very well rehearsed mantra and distraction technique
I did find myself counting steps up to 100. I love the thought of running saying I will have two sugars. Chi is effectively energy and the chi goes where the mind directs so the mantra is a good trick to stop the mind giving up. Sometimes if I want to still my mind I think I am on a sunny beach in Cornwall. This causes a good diversion for my mind. The problem is I forget about this when the running gets tough.
ReplyDeleteI need to think about my mantra.