Reasons to Run: Beating the mental game

In the hours leading up to the Pink Series half marathon, everything was going wrong for me. On the drive to check-in to our hotel, I realized I forgot my shoes. The Mexican food I ate for dinner messed with my digestion system. And when I laid out my race-day clothes before bed, I found I also forgot my socks.

That morning was no better. The weather was in the 30s and it was snowing outside. I left my water at the hotel room when we headed to the shuttle buses, so I went an hour and a half without hydrating. The Mexican food from the night before still hadn't settled well. By the time I went to the start line with roughly 800 other women, I was freezing and wet.

I hesitantly lined up with the two-hour pacer and hoped for the best. I kept my thoughts positive and envisioned how great it would feel to break the two hour mark. Running the Pink Series last year as my first half marathon, I finished in 2:08 and set a goal to eventually run a half in under two hours. It'd been a year coming, I now had a marathon and another half marathon under my belt, and I kept telling myself "You deserve this."

The first half of the race went quick. I stuck alongside the pacer from Utah Race Pacers, Lane, and struck up conversation with the fellow female runners. When we hit Mile 5 and Lane reported we had run it in 44 minutes, I was surprised — were we even going that fast? I felt great.

By Mile 8 though, I could tell I was hitting the wall. The pace group slowly got further and further away from me. My hamstrings hurt — and then my toe. I could feel Gu and Powerade sloshing uncomfortably in my stomach. The negative thoughts crept in. "I'm wearing brand new socks I hurriedly bought in a panic last night — it's a running rule to never race with new gear — I can feel all the blisters forming." "I didn't train as hard as I should have for this." "What have you done to me chicken enchillada? I think I'm going to be sick." Soon the pacer became a speedy ant-looking, neon-yellow blip in the distance.

I had to change my attitude. I put in headphones to listen to my catered running playlist. And I thought nothing but positive thoughts. "This light snow is actually really refreshing to run through." "I CAN catch up to the two hour pace group!" "Don't walk Amelia — you can run faster!"