Mental Toughness

So, this morning I dragged myself out of bed for a 6 mile run. This was my second 6-miler of the week, and the second one that I needed to completely talk myself through every minute and mile to finish. Just to that tree, just till the end of the song, just keep going, don’t stop.

The bridge in Swansboro. Part of today's 6 mile run.

I could blame this on several factors…such as my nutrition and hydration yesterday was awful or that I was awake a large part of the night with Dara (who couldn’t sleep…poor thing). I could blame it on the heat or the fact that my ipod is on the fritz and just plays whatever it wants instead of my running playlist (instead of jamming out to my favorite songs from Glee, I wind up singing the soundtrack from The Muppets). But in the end, what it boiled down to was plain old mental toughness.

This morning I was not tough. This has happened before…lots of times actually. But it is the WORST when it happens during a race. When I ran the VA Beach R&R Half Marathon and the Quintiles Half Marathon I knew by mile 4 that the next 9.1 miles would be grueling, that I would have to fight with myself every step. And I did. I finished…but I finished hating both of those races and instead of feeling accomplished for running 13.1, I felt defeated. My mind beat my body.

I think that will be my biggest challenge for the Marine Corps Marathon this year. Not letting myself feel defeated by my training…just running to run and enjoy and experience this amazing race…oh and being mentally tough enough to beat my time goal J.