Last night after dinner, I sat down to think. After my last 5k I lost a bit of my motivational mojo. But on Tuesday, I had a bit of a breakthrough. I ran mile repeats faster than I did last cycle in conditions that were far from ideal. 73 degrees and 93% humidity at 6 AM is no joke. It was the first workout in awhile that I can remember positive thoughts. Thoughts like “I can do this. Only a little bit more. Just keep the legs moving”, rather than “man, am I done yet?! This feels harder than it should. I can’t wait to be finished.”
Those thoughts bring about two drastically different results.
I write in a journal from time to time. I realized last year that my journal was turning into a place of complaint and anxiety, as opposed to one of motivation and happiness. Now, whenever I feel like I need to take stock of the good things in life, I write down a “moment”. My journal is now a collection of “moments”. They can be as small as that moment in the early morning when it’s just me, my thoughts, and a cup of coffee. Enjoying a new book or a lazy Sunday afternoon are small moments I try to remember. Or the moments can be as big as a new addition to the family, an exciting breakthrough at work, or a kickass race time.
Last night’s journal entry was like a personal pep talk–all of the reasons why I am motivated to keep going and keep pushing.
Do you keep a journal, for running thoughts or otherwise? Do you think it helps with your “mental game”?
{If you haven’t thought about the difference between “in spite of” and “because of”, Hillary has some words of wisdom for you: “That’s some bullshit”.}
We Wander And Ponder 
I try to put my feelings into my morning posts, but what keeps me most grounded is my wife and kid. If I let negativity arise from running, it falls onto them. If I push myself too hard, I’m useless to them later in the day after work. If I don’t push myself hard enough, why am I using time I could be sleeping or staying up later with my wife? Running is my last me time that I can count on. If everything goes bad training wise in a run, I remind myself, I do this because it is fun and refocus.
Plus, I think my wife believes in my pie in the sky goal times more than I do, so I can’t let her down 🙂
Plus, if I had a paper journal, it would be my kid’s coloring book pretty fast!
I really love the idea of a collection of moments. Everyone can use a good highlight reel from time to time. (I know I could!)
I’ve kept a journal since I was a kid (although back then I called it my diary), so my entries have definitely evolved over the years. During Christmas, I got a “Happiness Project” journal through a grab bag, and it is set-up so you make short posts everyday for 5 years. It’s kind of nice to force myself to document a thought every day, and then once I get through year one, each post will also allow me to reflect on the previous posts from that date.