The Long Run- Ugh!

Anyone who has trained for a race knows that Saturday or Sunday is your long run day. I titled this post ending with an UGH to point out that your mindset going into a long run is crucial. If I think of my long run with an UGH or similar negative I find that it is hard to even motivate to get started. And if I manage to actually start, I am less likely to do the mileage I set out to do and those miles I do finish are painful.

In psychology cognitive behavioral therapy is well known and often used to change one's thinking from the negative to the positive. We all at times have what we call thinking errors. And usually each individual is more prone to think a certain way. For example, overgeneralization is a common thinking error. If something bad has happened once we may say it will happen again. So in running if you had a day that you were tired and could only run 3 instead of your planned 5, you may say to yourself, "I couldn't even run 5 on Tuesday, I'm not going to be able to run more on the weekend." If you go into the weekend with this mindset of course you won't run more.
Another common thinking error is all-or-nothing thinking (black and white thinking). You think of things in absolute terms, such as never, always, every. So you might say to yourself, "I'll never be able to do this.", when you think of running a certain distance whether that be 1 mile or 26.2 miles.
If you tend to think like this or have these thoughts before or during a run one strategy is to challenge these thoughts. Ask yourself is it really true that you cannot do this, do you have proof? Most likely the answer is no you don't have proof. Replacing your negative thoughts with a more positive thought will change how you think and ultimately how you feel. So saying something like, "I am up to this challenge." or, "I'm going to do my best." will help you finish or move you towards your goal.
So really I should title this post The Long Run-Yes!