It’s Always Your Day

It’s always your day.

From where you’re sitting now - not in a race - this statement probably sounds nice, though nothing earth shattering.

But this one thought can change the outcome of your next race.

In a race, problems snowball into what seems like an opposing, immovable force.

In this situation, telling yourself, “It’s just not my day,” feels comforting.

You’re not failing - it’s beyond your control, so you can stop pushing and trying.

But this shuts off possibility. You can’t fix “not my day,” so you’re stuck. You can’t finish.

One year at War Hammer 100, I rolled into a high-mile aid station in the dark, early morning hours and noticed a fellow runner and his crew person sitting on the tail bed of the race truck.

“He’s dropping,” I thought.

I filled my water bottle and as I stood nearby eating, met his eyes.

“How ya doing?”

He shook his head and smiled, “It’s not my day.”

“Are you sure? You’ve got plenty of time to take a break.”

Nope - he was tired and down. The race wasn’t going his way and he was too disappointed to continue.

All extremely fixable…but he wasn’t interested in fixing it.

I asked one more time - I hate seeing anyone toss away a finish - and he got testy, insisting nothing would work.

So he was right. It wasn’t his day because he’d wouldn’t let it be - he wouldn’t even try.

In contrast, when you decide it’s always your day, you keep options open, you problem solve, and you stay in control of your race.

Instead of the entire race being the problem, you see specific problems - a blister, a wrong turn, an overly ambitious early pace - you can fix and bounce back from.

Your attention focuses on what you CAN do.

You keep the doors of possibility open and 10x your chance of finishing.

And it truly always is your day.

You’re alive today. You have this day of life. Whether you take responsibility for it or not, it’s yours.

You can toe the line at an ultramarathon…with a shot at finishing. That in itself is amazing. You haven’t always been able to.

You can turn any day into one that’s working for you. You can search out the advantages, learning, and aha’s in every race, whether it’s going the way you expect or not.

And finally, lots of things can go wrong…

- You may get blisters, fall, or take a wrong turn that adds a bunch of bonus miles.

- You may be struggling early on, way off target pace, and barely ahead of cutoff.

- You may hit lows of never-ending defeat, disappointment and hopelessness.

But things going wrong doesn’t mean it isn’t your day - it simply means you’re running an ultra. It’ll always be a mix of positive and negative.

I challenge you to start believing it’s always your day.

It’s true and it can make your race.

If this has been helpful, come coach with me on the powerful process behind it.

Instead of trying to remember a bunch of tips, you can learn how to use your mind to clear away any block.

Use this link to schedule a simple consult call and let’s see if coaching with me is a good fit.

You want to be as prepared as possible for the challenges that only come up in a race.