There are many things that often hold me back from running my best, whether it’s injury or the lack of races but… the biggest thing is my mind.

I often say it’s my own worst enemy. Sometimes I have a naff run and my mind then holds it against me for weeks!

It’s a struggle to push on and ignore it.

I know that when I do crack on with my run, I’ll do better than expected or even surprise myself!

It’s just having that internal battle. I have a few things I often try to combat it such as:

1. Listening to audio class or podcast
   • I use Aaptiv outdoor running classes which provide great verbal cues to keep me distracted. They also tell some inspirational stories which help me keep going
2. Focus on form
   • If I start to feel negative thoughts creep in, I often find this is a good time to check in with my form.
   • Am I looking straight ahead? Are my arms swinging north to south at my sides, shoulders down? Am I pushing back rather than overstriding? Am I breathing?!!
3. Think about my achievements
   • I’ve had naff runs, but I’ve also had amazing ones! On my long runs I sometimes think about what I’ve achieved, what I’ve overcome. My favourite is a trail half marathon I did last year in stormy weather. The race should have been cancelled (majority of other races had!) as a lot of the paths and hills were flooded and you couldn’t see where you were going! I didn’t give up though and managed to finish strong 🙂
   • Training runs are just that. It’s the training and resilience I build for the real achievements. Keep going, it’s going to help in the long run…!
4. Be reasonable (this I struggle with!)
   • A hilly, undulating run will produce a slower pace than a flatter/even terrain run. Common sense, but I’ve been beating myself up over it a lot these past few months.
5. Repeat a positive mantra
   • Simple but effective. My favourites are ‘I am strong and smooth’, ‘I am determined’ and ‘I feel joy’. The last one is to really remind myself is that running is meant to be FUN! 🙂
6. Smile!
   • My pal (in my head) Eliud Kipchoge always smiles when he’s running as it convinces us that the perceived effort is less than what it actually is…!

How do you all keep going when you’re struggling during a run?