Mental Fortitude AKA. Stronger than we Know
I talked last post about the 'mental game' when it comes to training, and I want to elaborate more on that. Today I ran my first 1/2 marathon (21.1 Km). The race went well. I finished in 1hr 50 mins and 38 sec; reaching my goal of finishing in under 2 hrs. If you were to ask me even just last year if I could accomplish such a task, I would have offered a resounding "No!"... actually a "Hell no!". Here I am today though, still alive, and having accomplished that goal.
The journey to this point has been tumultuous. There were definitely times I doubted myself. Negative self talk crept into my mind, whispering in my ear that I couldn't do this. Even today, around the 15km mark, where my split time was at its slowest, and not even by much, a few seconds; in those extra seconds a voice in my head was telling me to stop running. It was telling me that even with only 6km left to go, that I should slow down and walk the rest of the way. It was telling me that my body wouldn't hold out. As you already know, my body held up, and I finished.
It was a brief moment where my mental game faltered. To combat that situation in the moment, I did the only thing I could do, the one thing that I had been doing the past 14 clicks, breath and keep my legs moving. I hit kilometre 16 and I was back in focus to finish strong.
It's amazing how much our mentality affects our actions, motivation, and drive. Our bodies are capable of amazing things, but usually only if our mind lets us accomplish them. I need to learn to take this mindset into my training at the Kwoon, because even there the same negative talk tends to creep in. it tells me you'll never reach your next belt, let alone get my black belt. It tells me you can't move your body that way. I admit, I was very rigid when I first stepped into the Kwoon, but almost 2 years later, and Ai have gained quite a bit of flexibility. I know that if I keep applying myself to my training, that I can achieve the next level.
The journey to this point has been tumultuous. There were definitely times I doubted myself. Negative self talk crept into my mind, whispering in my ear that I couldn't do this. Even today, around the 15km mark, where my split time was at its slowest, and not even by much, a few seconds; in those extra seconds a voice in my head was telling me to stop running. It was telling me that even with only 6km left to go, that I should slow down and walk the rest of the way. It was telling me that my body wouldn't hold out. As you already know, my body held up, and I finished.
It was a brief moment where my mental game faltered. To combat that situation in the moment, I did the only thing I could do, the one thing that I had been doing the past 14 clicks, breath and keep my legs moving. I hit kilometre 16 and I was back in focus to finish strong.
It's amazing how much our mentality affects our actions, motivation, and drive. Our bodies are capable of amazing things, but usually only if our mind lets us accomplish them. I need to learn to take this mindset into my training at the Kwoon, because even there the same negative talk tends to creep in. it tells me you'll never reach your next belt, let alone get my black belt. It tells me you can't move your body that way. I admit, I was very rigid when I first stepped into the Kwoon, but almost 2 years later, and Ai have gained quite a bit of flexibility. I know that if I keep applying myself to my training, that I can achieve the next level.
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