The choice is yours. You can take control over your attitude, or you can let your reflex brain go through a series of negative reactions that usually result in low motivation and reduced performance. You can turn a negative attitude into a positive one, reprogram the reflex brain to stay on track toward a positive goal, and tap into the incredible powers of the right brain. Whether you struggle to get out the door when running by yourself, or you need more motivation to keep going when it’s tough, you have a better chance of success when you have a strategy. Here are some drills to help:
Drill 1: Rehearsing success: Rehearsal has been used for decades by individuals in various fields to achieve their potential on any given day, under a variety of conditions. Mentally envisioning a series of challenges and rewards, all the way to the goal, gears up the mind-body team to work together at top capacity.
Drill 2: Magic Words: Even the most motivated person has periods during a tough workout or race when he or she wants to abandon the goal. By using a successful brainwashing technique, you can use the resources from past successes to pull your self through these negative thoughts and feel like a champion at the end. Associate these successes with key words and you can build on this success and confidence with each use. My three magic words are: Relax…Power…Glide
Drill 3: Play dirty tricks on the Reflex Brain: The strategy of the rehearsal drill will get you focused, organized, while reducing the stress for the first third to half of the race or workout. Magic words will pull you along through most of the remaining challenging sessions. But on the really rough days, it helps to have some dirty tricks to play on the reflex brain.
Examples of dirty tricks:
- Imagine a giant invisible rubber band: When someone passes you, throw the invisible rubber band around the person and let them pull you along
- Imagine a jet engine behind you blasting you from behind – run in this tailwind
- Imagine oxygen molecules in your shirt. When needed, tap your shirt 3 times to release the molecules to help revive your muscles.
- Imagine bouncy air pads on your feet
*Note: I am not suggesting that you should run through pain when there is a chance iof a serious injury. When you have pain in a weak link area that you suspect is an injury, check with your doctor to verify.
Jeff Galloway Resources: www.jeffgalloway.com Visit the E-Shop where you will find RUNNING A YEAR ROUND PLAN, MENTAL TRAINING FOR RUNNERS: HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED and other books for your running library.
Join me in Atlanta for the 3rd Annual Jeff Galloway Race Weekend December 9-11, 2016, https://jeffgalloway131.com/