The inner dialog we have with ourselves as runners while we are out on a run would make for an interesting story. We all have mantras that we keep repeating to ourselves as a way of blocking out the tiredness, pain, or anything else that would get us to stop running immediately. I have found that having one mantra isn’t enough. During the Tinker Bell Half Marathon, I would think about things like this…

Yes, the finishers medal was a big motivator. I also told myself to “just keep going.” My favorite during that race was this…

In my head, it was just as George Lopez was saying it…I GOT THIS!

Recently, I’ve found a new mantra to say to myself…

I’ve found this one useful before starting a run interval as I’m counting down the seconds. I don’t have a gadget that beeps at me. So, I’m just looking at my watch a lot while I run. This mantra seems to come up in the final 10 seconds. Then, at 2 seconds…

KA-CHOW! And I’m off.

Last night, I had my fastest 4 miles ever! Of course, I do know that when I talk of speed it’s all relative. Depending on whom I’m comparing my “speed” with, it might be really slow. However, when I’m going faster than I’ve gone before, it feels fast to me. Last night was one of those nights where I felt like speed. After a few traffic lights slowed me on the first mile, each mile thereafter was faster than the previous one. My first mile took me 11 minutes and 40 seconds. I finished with an average pace of 11 minutes, 12 seconds. To say that my run last night was fun would be a huge understatement. I felt great while running and my finishing time held up that way as well. I even got a high-five from one of the people I ran past in Old Town Pasadena! You’ve gotta love those moments.

This weekend will be the last of the back to back long runs. I’ll be going for 5 miles tomorrow and 14 miles on Sunday. To be honest, 14 miles is a little intimidating. After all, I’ve never run that far before in my life. With this new distance, I’ll be taking that run back to the beach. I love running at the beach! Finishing all 14 miles is important to me because it sets me up well for the DL Half two weeks later. When the time comes to line up for that race, it will be the first time in 18 weeks of training that I’ll be running less than I ran two weeks prior. So, I’m anticipating a mental boost from that. This weekend, I’ll be putting in 19 miles of training (0.3 miles less than the Dumbo Double Dare). By weekend’s end, I feel like I’ll be good to go.

What are your mantras? What keeps you going when your body is screaming at you to just stop already?

I Am Speed!