This is an excerpt from Chapter 12: Mental Training and Motivation

IMAGERY As the word suggests, imagery is all about imagining. Imagine you are a world class runner. You are in the front of the pack at the Chicago Marathon. You feel like you are flying over the ground. Your form is perfect, smooth, graceful, and effortless. It is all about you.

This may sound a little egocentrical but your body follows what your mind thinks.

Another form of imagery is thinking back to a successful time in your running history. Maybe it was a previous half marathon, 10K, 5K, cross country race back in high school, anything! Imagine that you are in that setting again. You are the winner, you made a time goal, you pushed through a tough run and finished strong. Whatever it was, imagine it happening once again and re-create those emotional feelings.

Bringing your emotions into the game really impacts your mental state. So learn how to harness positive emotions.

This is pretty powerful stuff. We all know that believing in something is the first step in making something happen. Your body will mimic what you are imagining so imagine big things.

Benefits of Imagery  Helps our running form. Just by imagining your feet landing a certain way or your body leaning a certain way will cause your mind to tell your body to do just that.  Develops self-confidence. Imagery is focusing on the positive outcome of our goals. Seeing, if only in the mind, is believing. Get that confidence.  Eliminates negative thoughts. Negative thoughts are killers in regards to success. By imagining positive scenarios you are setting yourself up for positive outcomes.

When to Use Imagery The best way to make imagery work best for you during half marathon training is to practice it as much as possible. Use it during your shorter, daily runs. Use it before a long run and during a long run.

Most especially use imagery before the half marathon. Really picture yourself completing the race strong. And when the going gets rough, use it during the half marathon. Having that mental image of you powering through will give you the motivation to...power through.

SELF TALK Just as the name implies, self-talk is talking to yourself. It is telling yourself one thing when you are feeling another.

Self-talk is highly effective and motivating when you are in the later miles of a race. When the tiredness and mental fatigue is really starting to get a hold of you.

Here are Some Examples:  I’m not physically tired. It’s just all in my head.  I absolutely love running.  Once I finish this run, I will treat myself to x,y,z.  If I don’t finish this training run then I how can I expect to finish the half marathon.  Doing this long run will make me a better person. Not just in running but in life.  This is my one chance at running this race. I need to give it my all.  No regrets. I don’t want to end this run with a single regret.  This pain is only temporary. I won’t even remember it when I’m done, tomorrow, a week or month from now and certainly not a year from now. I will only remember if it was a failure or a success.  Just one more hour/mile/long run/etc.  Just keep running, just keep running, just keep running…  I only have today.  I can never get this run back so I have to do my best.  I will not give up.  You know what gets yourself moving better than anyone else. So use that to your advantage.

Quick Tip: Develop your own running mantra. This is something that you repeat over and over to yourself, with each step. It can be anything like saying “No regrets, no regrets, no regrets…” with every step. Make it your staple saying, kind of like your very own logo.

VISUALIZATION Visualization is similar to imagery except that you are seeing yourself achieve your goals rather than imagining a scenario.

Picture yourself approaching the finish line of the half marathon. It is the goal you have been working towards for 6 weeks. Your family and friends are there at the end. There are throngs of people cheering you on as you make that final sprint. There is nothing left to hold you back. No more pain, no more miles. There is food, (that’s probably enough motivation in itself) music, relaxation, a shower, and wonderful memories all waiting ahead for you. You did it! You worked towards something, gave it your all and made it yours. Of course you can use visualization for all of your runs especially your long runs. Picture yourself running each mile, the pains that might come, the mental toughness and then see yourself sticking it out and putting that run in the bag.

Practicing to achieve your goals is just one more step to actually making your goals easy to achieve.

Dealing with Missing a Run or having a Bad Run First of all, relax. It happens.

Next, try to get decide how that missed/bad run will affect your training. If you missed a long run, you will probably want to pull out of training or shoot for a later half marathon. This is a 6 week plan so it does not leave room to make up long runs.

If you miss a shorter run during the week, you still have the potential to keep training. Just try to keep focused and keep on target.

If you have a bad run, try to figure out what went wrong. Was it a motivation issue? Mental block? Tiredness? Something going on outside of running that is weighing you down? Just by putting your finger on what made the run go wrong helps to make you feel better and learn from your mistakes and learn more about yourself as a runner.

This Chapter on Mental Training and Motivation is continued in full in the eBook.