You know.. running is not just about feeding you body nutritious food, its also about feeding your mind with positive nurturing thoughts, and talking to yourself in an affirmative way that focuses you on succeeding in the next mile. You run any distance one mile at a time, whether it's 3 miles 6,13,26 or 50 and some of them are long miles!!!!
I get asked a lot what I think about when running ultra marathons, and how I cope with the pain, the distances and difficulty of the events that can last from 6 to 14 hours.
So I thought I'd explore that and share some thoughts and best of "life philosophies" that I have gathered from motivated people pushing their limits in all walks of life, in business and in running longer extreme distances as I do.
Hopefully sharing these nuggets of wisdom, or inspirational quotes will help you to push through the pain barrier when the going gets tough!
So here are some of my favourite "simple, easy to remember" nuggets of wisdom that I use to help me focus, and maintain a maximum sustained effort.
"Whether you think you can do a thing... or you think you cannot... you are probably right!"
When you cross the start line, you never know what the race has in store for you, mother nature can be cruel and kind and you could find energizing sunshine or as in the Round Rotherham 50 miler, 30 miles of horizontal driven rain and sleet... so
"Control what you can Control... Accept what you cannot Control... and learn the difference between the two, and get on with it"
"Pain is just a case of Mind over Matter if you don't mind ...it doesn't matter!"
"You are never defeated by a task, as long as you don't think the task is impossible"
"People often over estimate someone Else's ability and underestimate their own abilities"
"Dream....struggle....VICTORY" it can happen for you, just dig deep and stay strong"
Sometimes however, when I just don't feel good, or I am struggling to maintain a sustained effort during a run, and feel like giving in...I will bait myself with the choice of just quitting, and enjoy the feeling of having that power of choice... then just before giving into it, I repeat the phrase that challenges me to my core;
"You have the choice now... to push on and go the distance... or, you can just quit, and remember for the rest of your life that you were mentally weak and failed to complete the distance"
And finally,(as they say on the News, before the positive bit at the end) my friend and fellow MdeS competitor Lou Powell reminded me recently that; "Pain is always temporary... but Victory lasts forever" I'll remind him of that when we compete in the famous "Jungle Marathon"... more on that later.
In the meantime I have the "MdeS 26.2 x 2" weekend to complete with my friend Rory Coleman,(and 30 of the competitors that are hoping to compelete this years Marathon des Sables) I get to spend 4 hours running an off road Marathon on Saturday, followed by the same route again on the Sunday, with Rory who has 9 world records to his name... this is where I recharge my "battery of inspiration" I just run, chat, ask questions and listen... and soak it all up!
But, you know... most importantly for me, I also get the chance to give something back... to share my experience of what worked and didn't work for me, with those who are going to challenge their limits, and to dispell some of the miths about what it takes to push yourself to your limits in these extreme ultra marathon runs.
If I can help to inspire just one person onward towards success as the 52 miles slip by over the course of the weekend...I'll be happy!
more later...see you all soon
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