Back in April I ran a marathon in conditions most people wouldn’t walk a dog in. It was raining, windy and I had to run through many calf-deep puddles where the road had flooded. It was far from the conditions I had hoped for, but I stuck it out. Afterwards I was asked by a subscriber here to write about where that mental strength came from to not only keep moving forwards but keep pushing when my goal time had slipped away. They asked whether I had any tips. It’s taken me a while to formulate a response (mainly because it does feel a massive humble brag) but this is it.
The end goal is key
For me, mental strength is something everyone has and is building all the time. It’s not just in running - some people take ice baths, some get a bikini wax - both are uncomfortable and require a degree of mental resilience and personal investment in an end goal. You have to be committed to the end result and believe it’s worth the short amount of pain you are experiencing.
There’s a balance at the heart of this: do you want the end result enough to endure what it takes to get there? Sometimes the answer is no either because the pain becomes too great or the end goal isn’t rewarding enough.
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