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What’s Your Running Mantra?
Positive self-talk matters in fitness.
It’s January. That means gyms are packed with everyone super motivated to pursue new years’ resolutions and streets are a bit more crowded than usual with runners and walkers alike. If you are new to your fitness journey, sometimes it’s challenging to feel like you even belong in these spaces.
Something we may not often discuss is how we motivate ourselves in pursuit of our newly formed fitness goals. How you talk to yourself matters.
What’s your mantra?
My latest mantra has been, “ A body in motion stays in motion.” This is what I tell myself to get out the door. And “ One foot in front of the other.” I repeat this as I run to keep myself motivated.
Personally, I made a lofty goal of running a spring marathon this year. I’ve been struggling on my runs recently, really since I had Covid in August. Runs that feel like a 10:30 paced mile are actually around 12 minutes. It’s very humbling! Yet still, I keep repeating my positive mantras.
My mantras weren’t always this optimistic. In fact, when I first started my running journey, I heard, “ Nanny-nanny boo-boo,” in the sound of the pattern of my feet striking the pavement. It took a while for that negative noise to change, but I can still recall clearly the…
