Mental Challenges

Hello Readers!

This week I wanted to touch on the mental challenge incorporated with losing weight, running and just about everything involving sports. Last week I mentioned that I would be running the Rock the Crossroads run, I did complete this run. This day defined why running is so mentally challenging. The temperature outside was 95 with about 80% humidity a typical Kansas City summer day. The run was located in the middle of downtown which meant with the concrete surroundings the temperature felt about 105 degrees. I have been training for a long time and generally have no troubles completing a 5K without walking but the elements of this day caused me to be mentally weak. I walked in three separate sections of the course. My physical conditioning was not the problem, I was not mentally in the game that night. I had convinced myself ahead of time that it was too hot to run.

This is a mistake I will not make in November when it is time for the Marathon. People who have run marathons tell you that the most difficult part is the mental games you must play when running. Having run several half marathons I can attest you must show up in the right frame of mind. In running you are given several different conditions and they can change during the course of the race, it is imperative that you have prepared yourself ahead of time for the challenges that could and will be faced.

Mental games are not just associated with running they play a very important part in the entire weight loss process. Losing weight is just as much mental as physical. By this I mean that in order to lose weight and sustain your weight loss you must be in the right frame of mind. True weight loss is a change of life style, you can lose 10 pounds in a week but in order to keep that 10 pounds off you have to commit to maintaining the exercise regiment or dieting scheme used to lose the initial weight. This is something I struggled with in earlier years of my life but have since learned. This is the reason why I continue to see results and will continue to see the positive results in my life. Have a great week readers and fellow runners!