TOTW Mantra

I'm believe I'm stealing this from Chrissie Wellington but I could be wrong...

"Be warned: your body can be a good negotiator at mile 18, especially if your mind hasn't prepared its rebuttal arguments beforehand."

I know you are referring to what you tell yourself during race time but I always use this during my workouts as motivation to push through...

"Don't be upset by the results you didn't get with the work you didn't do"

My six year old made me a very manly bracelet with "Slow Down" on it. She reminds me to put it on any time it is not on my wrist as I head out of the house for a ride/run.  The "slow down" reminds me to train smart and the bracelet just symbolizes so much more.  I will gladly be sporting it 13 days from now in KY. I do not know what race day will bring but when it gets tough I will look to rainbow beads on my wrist as a reminder why I need to suck it up.

That is awesome. 

Good luck!

When the going gets tough and my mind starts to get clouded, I keep repeating "Right Here Right Now"

That reminds me that the only thing I can control is the moment.  What happened before and after I cannot control.

+1

Coming out of the water, T1, "goggles down, helmet on, grab bike, go".

Anytime I'm feeling doubt: "you've got this".

On my bike handle bars: "heels down" (bike fitter said this is what I need to do for more power).

Coming off the bike, T2,  "rack bike, helmet off, shoes on, go".

Sharpie'd on my forearm, target 1st mile run split, and "full gas".

That's my back-up plan.

From my single-sport road racing days...  I say:

"it can't possibly hurt anymore than it does right at this moment, so you might as well push harder!" 

+1 "never had a bad day since"

Keep it simple, "shut up legs" - Jens Voigt.

This is one of the most hilarious phenomenons to me.  It's REALLY HARD to do simple math in your head when exercising.  There must be something about blood oxygen levels, or re-allocated brain resources, etc.  

Next time you're out for a run, after a good 20 minutes, try adding two three digit numbers, i.e. 456 + 789 = ?  This can keep my mind occupied for a mile.  But then I'm easily entertained, YMMV.

As far as mantra for the past few years I have written "You can" on the inside of my palm. I have also written "Don't think!" on the top of one hand and  "just run" on the other. Particlarly helpful to write that on the hand with the watch or pace band. Maybe "HTFU" on my arm too.

For me it really is better if I can NOT think about myself. Pains come and go, you get uncomfortable but if allowed to think about the pain and linger on the discomfort, I think, makes it stay, makes it larger than it is. Better for me to find a way, any way, to dissassociate from it. I even tell myself : this hurts now but it will go away and be replaced by something else. Don't worry about it.  And then, telling myself that I am fine/okay seems to help.

Focusing on abstractions or other people or the scenary and turning negative thoughts into positive thoughts helps me the most.In fact sometimes just trying to find a positive can take up enough brain and time that before I know it I've covered several miles and have gotten out of "the valley". And if I find myself walking I just think" forward motion is better than no motion."