Three Simple Phrases to Improve Your Race Results
What you say about yourself directly affects your race results.
The words you use about yourself - in your head and talking with other people - paint a picture in your mind.
Positive or negative, say it enough and it becomes your self image - how you see yourself.
That image narrows down or opens up what you believe is possible for you.
And - here’s the catch - you only run what you see as within your reach. No better.
If you think you’re going to be chasing cutoff, that’s what will happen unless you decide something faster is possible.
The beauty of this is you can flip it around to your advantage. Talk about a result you believe could be possible, like a PR, and it is.
It’s a super-simple mindset practice anyone can start right now, even if mindset stuff seems hard, you’re in the habit of talking about limits, or you can’t imagine what else to say.
Here are three examples to start with.
If you think a simple shift won’t make a big difference, experiment. Try eliminating these phrases and see what happens:
“I can’t...”
Obviously this isn’t helpful, but people use it all the time to describe what they’re worried about.
The closer to the race and the higher the anxiety, the more likely you are to say this.
And in the middle of a race, it’s the kiss of death. Say “I can’t do this,” and you’ll prove it true, so it pays to be especially careful with this phrase. Use it only when you really, really mean it.
Try replacing it with, “I can,” as in, “I can finish if I slow my pace in this mid-day heat and pick it up again at night.”
2. “I don’t know…”
Used about anything unknown - which shoes to wear, how to train, how the race will go...
It gives you permission to stay in the safe unknown instead of taking an action or making a decision that might turn out wrong.
Try replacing it with, “I’m figuring out,” as in, “I’m figuring out how to eat and drink to keep my stomach happy in 100s.”
3. “I have to be realistic about…”
A close cousin of “I can’t,” this one drives me crazy.
It describes a limitation you think you need to make because being optimistic would leave you open to disappointment.
And because you limit what you expect, you create disappointment anyway.
Try replacing it with “I could surprise myself with,” as in, “I could surprise myself with how well I race after that foot injury.”
These three ideas should get you going.
You don’t need to be perfect at this, you just need to start.
I coach clients on building the mindset they need to take on any challenge they want.
We clean up thinking and habits like this one, and move on to build mindset skills they can use in any situation.
If you’re interested, use this link to set up a free consult call and we’ll go through what it can do to get you where you want to be.
