Mental Toughness

Today I went to the Y to run on the dreadmill treadmill because my boys didn't have school and I was NOT pushing all 85 pounds of them for a tempo run. I warmed up by walking for 10 minutes and got my music going and got settled in staring at the blank wall in front of me. I started my 30 minute tempo run at a 9:30 pace got up to a 8:30 pace (which is a little fast for me), then I slowed it down and ultimately ended at a 10:20 pace then walked for 5 minutes to cool down.

I have to be honest, I was ready to get off the treadmill about halfway through my run, not because I was tired, it was because of how extremely bored I was. To top it off, the lady next to me was bouncing all over the place and hanging on the treadmill while she was running. You'd think that would have cut through the boredom, but no it just made me want to stop even more. Oh, and to complain about something else (it's just one of those days), it was HOT as Hades in the cardio room. I was sweating like a pig, sweat dripping all in my eyes and off of my elbows! I'm sure I was slinging it all over the place.

So here's where the mental toughness comes in...I actually said to myself, "Lea, stop it! You are not getting off this stupid thing. You are going to finish your planned workout. When RunGirl gets tough you're not going to quit so you're not going to quit now!" Sometimes I just have to give myself a talking to. If I'm going to compete in endurance sports I have to be tough both physically and mentally. It's so easy to psyche myself out. I'm learning more and more that you have to have the mental toughness and the heart to succeed in endurance sports. Sure, a super athletic body would help too, but it's not the end all be all (thank goodness).

We'll see how tough I am when 70.3 training starts, eek!