Challenges as Mental Foreplay

Yesterday, my feline friend Kitty and I (she is a real person- but nicknames only here) took on the feat of finishing the Jingle Jog. To most, a 3.7 mile race is nothing. But to Kitty and I- this was kind of a big deal. As we rolled up to Prospect Park in BK, which is beautiful by the way, I started to realize that I had never in fact done a long distance race. For this run, I did 2 weeks of light training and figured I would be fine. But as we approached the START I remembered that the only type of racing I had ever done in my life was short distance- skiing racing. If you weren't down the hill in 30 secs (depending upon the course) then there was something severely wrong. As we stood there at 9:00 AM freezing our tushes off, I had a sort of "Oh-crap-what-did-I-get-myself-into" moment. Awesome. The race began and as I started running to my blasting techno beats I become conscious of the fact that this race was all about mental foreplay. Granted, for a more physically intensive race one would need to be dedicated to training, but for the most part- it is all in your head. When we approached mile 2, to my shock as what seemed not long after the race began, I started to worry if I would make it. Then I literally said to myself in my head "are you serious? you're being a huge baby." That lit a fire under my rear-end and got me easily to mile 3. By that time, I just wanted to finish the damn thing but was naturally (?) beginning to feel fatigued. Again, I said in my head "are you serious? you're going to be a quitter now?" I sprinted the last .7 miles and with ease made it through the FINISH line! Point being here that my physical fatigue was all mentally induced and the more I convinced myself I could do it the easier it became. Presenting yourself with a challenge every now and then allows you to prove to yourself that you can in fact accomplish goals you thought you may never be able to reach. I'll have to get back to you on that 1/2 marathon I'm starting to train for...if of course I am still alive after ;)
xoxo AA