The Voice that Gets You to the Finish Line

You know that voice in your head.

All that doubt you feel about your capability. All the ways that comes through in the things you say to yourself, like "I'm slow. I can't do this. I'm just no good at this.”

Negative self talk takes the air out of your sails in a race. It can turn off the switch and you lose power. You find yourself walking. Giving up.

So of course you want to make it stop.

Here's the thing to understand about that self talk. The doubt is real. But the self talk is your response to it. You get to choose your response to it - and you have options to choose from.

You can change the way you respond to that doubt without having to erase the doubt first. You just have to choose what you say to yourself.

And since this is you talking to yourself, you can do that.

No one ever told you that you could change it. Or how. But you can. It’s one of the biggest changes that turned things around for me - and got me finishing 100-mile race after 100-mile race and having fun doing it. It's also a skill I build with every runner I coach.

The secret is this: you have to take responsibility for the way you talk to yourself. Not blame - responsibility.

Those words in your head? You're generating them. They feel automatic, like they just show up. But you're the one writing them. Which means you can write something different. You can talk to yourself with compassion, respect, and pride. With love.

Here's an easy place to start. You don't want to do a tough run - long run, hot run, speed workout, whatever - and you do it anyway.

You're likely to say to yourself, "Glad I got that run in." And feel relieved you don't have to feel guilty for skipping it.

That's about the run. And your narrow escape from guilt. This time.

Instead, try saying this: "I'm so proud you got that run in. That wasn't easy. And I know you didn't want to do it. But you knocked it out anyway. Damn proud of you."

That's about you. One version is about the run. The other is about who you are - your capability to do the everyday hard thing you don't want to do. One carries the shadow of guilt. But one adds another penny in the bank of proof that you are someone who just does hard things.

Changing your self talk only seems impossible right now because you haven't done your reps with it. It's not a habit yet - it's something you have to remember to do. You haven't gotten in enough reps to make it something you just do.

When you do this in daily ultrarunning life, you build a bank of proof. Proof that you do hard things. It's just what you're capable of. It's normal for you. And when you're at mile 65 in a tough 100-mile race, exhausted and hopeless, that proof is there for you to draw on. That's what you call on to stay in the race and figure out how to finish.

Do this enough and that voice in your head changes. It's still yours. But now it sounds like someone who's on your side.

You're a team with yourself instead of battling yourself.