Inspire to Run Podcast
Inspire to Run Podcast
5 Ways to Improve Confidence and Enhance Your Runs with Positive Self Talk
#130 - In this episode, I share my journey with positive self talk and its impact on running performance. After being called out for negative self-talk during a training session, I researched how our internal dialogue can significantly affect our racing outcomes. I shared my experience from a recent 5K race where positive self-talk helped him achieve a personal best despite challenging weather conditions.
Through personal experience and research, I break down practical strategies for developing and maintaining positive self-talk during training and races. Whether you're dealing with difficult weather conditions, challenging terrain, or self-doubt, these actionable tips will help you harness the power of positive self-talk to enhance your running performance and achieve your goals.
Topics Covered:
- Staying present-focused and preventing negative thoughts
- Methods to reframe negative self-talk into positive statements
- Using milestones and past wins to build running confidence
- Building a weatherproof mindset for challenging conditions
Your Host
Richard Conner
Richard is a strategic marketing professional with experience in B2B marketing. Richard is the founder of Inspire to Run and is passionate about helping others reach their goals. He is a Connecticut native, a husband, dad, writer, Star Wars fan, and, of course, a runner!
Resources:
- To Run Your Best, Call Yourself ‘You’
- Incrediwear: Code for 10% off RICHARDCONNER
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Hi, my friend. Are you looking for ways to improve your mindset with the goal of achieving better performance and training in races? Have you found yourself saying negative things to yourself at times where it matters most? Well, today I'm going to talk about positive self-talk and what I've learned about myself and my own journey, in hopes that it helps you and yours.
Speaker 2:Hope you enjoy Welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast and yours Hope you enjoy. Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast. Here you will find inspiration, whether you are looking to take control of your health and fitness or you are a seasoned runner looking for community and some extra motivation. You will hear inspiring stories from amazing runners, along with helpful tips from fitness experts. Now here's your host, richard Connor. Experts Now here's your host, richard Conner.
Speaker 1:Hi, my friend, Welcome to Inspired to Run Podcast. I hope you're doing well and I hope you've been enjoying these solo episodes lately. We do have some great interviews that are brewing and I'll drop those episodes soon. But in the meantime I'd like to talk to you a little bit about positive self-talk. And I'm usually positive and optimistic, but I realize that I'm not in some cases. And one of the things that made me realize this is I was in the gym a few weeks ago with my coach and others and we were talking about some topic related to races or training and I don't really remember the details of the topic. But as we're having a conversation, someone kind of called me out. They're like, yeah, well, with that attitude, you're not.
Speaker 1:And then I started to reflect on what I was saying with the conversation, how it was going, and I realized that I must have been very negative about again whatever that topic was and didn't realize it and realize it and I can be pretty hard on myself in a lot of different areas, but it's led to this kind of negative self-talk which then I verbalized in that situation. So I really started to think about that a lot and even last year I started to use mantras and try to have more positive self-talk. And if you remember, it was an episode that I did on my Brooklyn half marathon from last year, which I think I did pretty well in that race compared to the year before. But one of the things that I tried to do was have this mantra and it was I will, I can, I must, and that's one of the mantras that I've used and that's really helped me stay positive during the race. And one of the things that I've realized about myself is the happier that I am and the more positive I am, I tend to perform better versus if I kind of sink into these negative you know self-talks, whether I realize it or not, the race tends to hurt a little bit more and I don't tend to perform as well as I'd like to or as well as I've trained for.
Speaker 1:So kind of what spurred the topic for today's conversation is today how to race, and I'm really excited about this race. It is the Run for Refugees 5K that is put on by Iris. I had Iris on the show many years ago to talk about virtual races and kind of what the organization does, and I've been supporting them for a number of years by running this races and promoting the events. So today I had the race. It is the first one for the year and I'm really excited about it because it not only is an opportunity for me to help others but it also gives me the opportunity to just kind of see how I'm doing as I start the year.
Speaker 1:I kind of, you know, january 1 is like the clock just reset and I'm ready for a new year and I just want to make sure that you know I'm really set up for success this year. This race really kind of tells me where I am and the good thing is, you know, I didn't take a long break after World Championships back in December. And usually the holidays things tend to slow down and you have vacation and you know your training can kind of, you know, go off a little off track and that's fine because we all need a break. But coming back in January, you know it's a little bit challenging sometimes to get back into the routine. So I really just wanted to kind of see how I'm doing. And I love this race because it's local here in Connecticut, it's in New Haven, it's in a beautiful, beautiful area of New Haven, so you're running through the streets and it's great. You know spectators and crowd and staff and volunteers and overall it's just a really wonderful race.
Speaker 1:So I had this race today and I'll share a little bit about it and then I'll kind of get into the topic here. So I felt good going into the race. I've been training kind of after world championships. I've been doing a lot more strength training and then I've been building in my miles, probably not as much as I would have liked, but I was pretty good, like I felt pretty good about where I was. So that's been working out really well.
Speaker 1:I felt good going into this race. But then we had a snowstorm overnight. So I'm like here we go, right, something that's going to get in the way of really having just kind of standout performance in this race. Although it's not my A race, it just tells me how I'm doing for the year and it kind of sets the tone for the year. So it is pretty important to me.
Speaker 1:It snowed overnight, they postponed the race, which is the right thing to do, and it just gave the city time to kind of clear up the streets. It gave me time to kind of clear up the snow here at home and I started thinking about it, I was like, first off I did like an hour's worth of you know, call it strength training and cardio before the race, which is not ideal. And then I'm thinking I'm going to get out there and it's going to be slippery and it's going to be wet and yada, yada, yada, right. So already the negative self-talk is happening and I'm like this has got to stop. I'm going to get out to the race, I'm going to do the best I can and that's going to be that right, and then we'll see what the results are. So that's what really kind of spurred this conversation and you know I'll just jump to the end. I actually did pretty well in the race. It hurt.
Speaker 1:So you know there's point in time where I had, you know, pretty severe cramps, which has been happening to me periodically. There's been times where, because of the snow and the water and the ice, it became really crammed in certain areas so I wasn't able to move as fast as I wanted to in certain areas and you know that kind of slowed me down. But you know I was just thinking about, you know, as I'm going through the race, I'm like no excuses, like it's, these are the conditions that I'm dealt with. I'm going to do the best I can here and really just kind of take out all the excuses. That would probably give myself permission to dial it back a little bit, and that's what I didn't want to happen.
Speaker 1:I still wanted to perform as best as I could in this race, given all the conditions and everything that has happened. So the good news is that I finished the race pretty well. As far as I could tell, I did far better than I did last year. So I did about a minute better in this race than I did last year, than I did last year. So I did about a minute better in this race than I did last year, and I improved by seven seconds versus my best time, which I believe was about two years ago. So all of that was good, but it really required me not only to do the training that led up to the race, but really required me to focus, you know, on the race and as well as have these positive self-talk moments whenever my brain was going off the rails, right when something was happening, physically or otherwise. So that's what I want to talk about today.
Speaker 1:It's just like for me, I feel like the times that I perform best is really somewhat linked to my mood. So if I'm in a good mood, if I have that positive self-talk, if I'm feeling good about the race generally, I've seen that I perform better. So if I'm in a good mood, if I have that positive self-talk, if I'm feeling good about the race generally, I've seen that I perform better. And if I go into the race where I'm like, well, this, that and the other, then I've seen that I have challenges there. It's a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Speaker 1:So I did a little bit of research on this because I'm curious now is this just me, or is this everybody? How does positive self-talk really help a runner such as myself in these situations? So I did a little bit of research and what I found is there are some studies out there that talks about positive self-talk and how it affects running performance, and the interesting thing is it's inconclusive. So I couldn't really find studies that really showed clearly that positive self-talk can help lead to better performance in a race, not to say it doesn't exist. I'm saying in my limited research I didn't find those studies. So if you know those studies, if you've seen it, something that's published, go to your podcast app, send me a message. I'd love to see it and I'd love to read it, but I couldn't find it.
Speaker 1:So one of the studies that I found was actually published, or there was an article in Runner's World and it's called To Run your Best, call Yourself you. Research finds talking to yourself in the second person can boost performance, and this was by scott douglas. So this was a really interesting article because, while the research was inconclusive about positive self-talk versus negative self-talk, it talked about when you use, when you refer to yourself as you versus I, their studies show that there is better performance. So, like you can do this versus I can do this. So I thought that was really interesting and I need to think about, like, how do I talk to myself if it's I or you? But that was really interesting, but that was really one of the only studies that I saw that can really lead to better performance based on the way that you talk to yourself, especially for runners or athletes.
Speaker 1:So again, if you've seen studies that show this and has that correlation or link, feel free to send me a message. I'd love to take a look at that, but I still believe it, I still believe it for myself, so I'm going to share with you five tips for positive self-talk. So these are the things that I've either researched or things that I have experienced kind of in my own journey and I'd like to share them with you. So the first tip for positive self-talk is really just kind of run the mile that you're in. So focus on that moment, focus on on that mile, focus on that race. And the reason why I say this and this is from my own personal experience is once you start thinking beyond that, that's when the potential for those negative triggers to happen.
Speaker 1:So if you're thinking about I have to go to work the next day, I have to do this, this project, I have to run a race, another race, maybe next week, I have to do this with the family, all those things, I mean they could be positive, maybe it's. You know you're going to do this and you're going to go on to something fun, that's great. But sometimes they have the potential to be negative triggers and then it takes your focus away from the race. But even if you're in the race, if you're thinking gosh, you know this is a three-mile race. I'm in the first mile, I have cramps, which I did in this race, and I have two miles to go. Am I really going to be able to keep this pace and go for, you know, another two miles, given the fact that I have these cramps or I'm really breathing heavy? My heart rate's off the chart.
Speaker 1:Whatever the case is right Focus in the moment, focus on that mile, focus on that race, and that'll help you kind of move forward in a more positive manner, versus thinking about things that are kind of outside of all those and then it kind of could lead to negative self-talk. So for me, that's kind of the first tip. The second tip is, you know, for positive self-talk is reframe kind of those negative thoughts. So this could be true for your training, this could be true for races. So, whatever the circumstances, how can you reframe those negative thoughts and have that positive self-talk? So, as an example, I am slow, right, so you may just feel this way Again if you're training, you're on the treadmill and maybe you're looking at the person next to you or you're in a race and that eight-year-old kid is just flying by you and that may or may not have happened today. So reframe that. I am slow to. I'm building endurance. So whatever you're doing today is gonna help you build for the future. So reframe your thoughts there.
Speaker 1:Or speed work is hard. So what I generally do is I like to do speed work on the treadmill, even though I don't like to do long distance runs on the treadmill or anything like that, but I do like to do speed work because I feel like it really forces me to run at the speeds that I need to for my training, versus if I did it on the track or whatever the case may be. So for me, if I'm thinking speed work is hard, I could reframe that to I'm getting stronger with every step and I could tell you that with certainty that when I'm doing speed work, I'm like this is what's necessary for me to perform better in my races. I have to do this to get better at that. So I'm going to do it, and even that's probably a little negative in the way I said it. Right, I have to do this. No, I get to do this. This is going to benefit me and I'm going to get stronger with every step and I'm going to perform better in my races or whatever it is that I'm going to get stronger with every step and I'm going to perform better in my races or whatever it is that I'm training for.
Speaker 1:The next one is this hill is killing me. You can reframe that as hills make me powerful, right? So again, these are ways to reframe kind of those negative self-talk to positive self-talk. And these are just examples. So, whatever it is, really reflect and think about. Whether you're in your training or you're doing your races, what is it that you are saying to yourself? And if it seems like it can be a little bit negative, how can you reframe that into something positive? How are those things benefiting you in the long run?
Speaker 1:So number three for positive self-talk is kind of using milestone markers to build your confidence. So what do I mean by that? Well, you know, I'm sure many of you look at your watch every mile that you go. I mean, some people don't look at their watch, which I don't know. There's pros and cons to it. Maybe that's a good thing if you don't look at your watch, but I personally look at my watch at every mile just to see kind of how I'm doing and just to kind of pace myself. So I try not to look at it at any other time, but really it's those kind of markers or milestones, just to see how I'm doing.
Speaker 1:I started my first mile at 805 a mile, which is pretty good given that my target was eight-minute miles. But my first reaction was well, wait a minute. No, no, no, no. If I'm at 805, I'm already behind. I have two miles to go. I got to make up the five seconds Like I'm already behind, and the first mile is probably going to be the easier mile. So you know, am I really going to get faster as I continue in the race?
Speaker 1:So for me, that was my negative self-talk happening right there at the first mile I was 805. But then I started thinking about it. I was like, wait a minute, this is actually a really good thing. I didn't start off too fast, I'm not going to burn myself out and this is an opportunity for negative splits, which is actually a pretty cool thing to do in a race. So you know what? 805 is great, I'm going to stick with it. I'm just going to speed up a little bit. I don't need a lot, I just need to speed up a little bit and I'm going to see how my second and third miles go.
Speaker 1:So that was kind of the positive self-talk, how it kind of reframed like, oh my gosh, I'm slow for this first mile. They're like no, this is actually really good, I'm in the game, I just need to speed up a little bit. I will speed up a little bit and then I'm going to have negative splits and that's going to be cool too. So the great news I want to say the second mile. I came in about seven minutes and 50 seconds, which is excellent. So, honestly, like I didn't feel like I was going. Seven minutes and 50 seconds, it all just kind of felt hard. But I was so happy when I got to that second mile marker and I looked at my watch I'm like that's it right there. So all I had to do is just hold on to that pace all the way to the end. So for me, that was kind of my positive self-talk, which is kind of using those milestones to say here's where I am now, what do I need to do for the next mile, and then how do I turn that kind of in a positive thing versus negative?
Speaker 1:And then number four for positive self-talk is use past success as evidence to counter negative thoughts. So for me, there's a bunch of things that I use. I will use my speed work, as we just talked about. I use my speed work as part of that positive self-talk. Like, hey, I did those treadmill workouts and they were hard and I did my 500-meter sprint and I did it faster than my race pace. Mill workouts and they were hard and I did my 500 meter sprints and I did a faster than my race pace and I knew I was, you know, breathing hard and I know I was running fast and I know I put my body through a lot, but that prepared me for this moment and I know if I could do that, I for sure can do this. So that's some of the things that I use.
Speaker 1:I also use past races as evidence to kind of counter negative thoughts. That one is a little tricky right. So in this particular case last year I was a minute slower than I did this year and it wasn't my best time. So you know it'd be hard for me to have said well, you know I did this last year, I certainly could do it again this year. I could even improve this year. That was hard, but I know I did better the year before that and I knew that my target time was just a little bit ahead of where I was a year before. So I'm like two years of training, I've learned a lot. I have a lot more confidence. My training is dialed in for sure I could do better than what I did two years ago and then last year was just a fluke, it was just how I showed up that day, but I know I could do better than that.
Speaker 1:So just, you know, find and use those past successes as evidence to counter negative thoughts as part of your positive self-talk. So you know, document, you know not only the times and distances but also kind of how you overcame challenges. So maybe there were things that come up during the races that you push through like all of that is going to help you, you know, build that confidence for your future training and your future races. And you know, part of a community thing is, you know, I know many of us are on social media or maybe we belong to running clubs or have coaches and running communities and you know it's really great to get, you know, comments and kudos from the folks in your community, whether it's your accountability partner, your running coach, your running club on social media. So all of those things can help you. And maybe that you know your friends and connections there, your fellow runners see things that you don't. So maybe you're like you know your friends and connections there. Your fellow runners see things that you don't. So maybe you're like, oh gosh, you know, this is what I did for this race. You know, wish I did better. But maybe for them they're like you're killing it and you just don't realize it. But here's what we see. So all of that's going to help you kind of build evidence for your future training and your races. So just kind of keep track of all those things, of your achievements, and that's going to help you moving forward.
Speaker 1:So the next one number five for positive self-talk is develop a weatherproof mindset. So, you know, maintain that positive self-talk in challenging conditions. And this one is a little it could be a little metaphoric or it could be, you know, actual like weather. So let's talk about the weather first, because that's what happened to me today, right? So it snowed overnight. It wasn't terrible, but it was a bit more snow than we've received in a while and my mind just went to. Well, the ground is going to be slippery and it's going to be wet, and how can I get my best time? And conditions that are worse than last year, which was cold but it was completely dry so I could just take off without worrying about slipping and falling and doing all those things right. So you need to have that mindset of, whatever happens, whatever comes your way, that you're going to be able to overcome that, and weather-wise, the best way to do that, or one of the ways to do that, I should say, is to actually train for the weather, and you really don't know what you're going to get on race day. So the best way is to get out there and do your runs or do your workouts in that weather, and sometimes you can't.
Speaker 1:I think this winter was a little bit challenging so, admittedly, I didn't do a lot of runs outdoors. I did some, but I was not having it. I was just like it's below freezing for a period of time and we had inclement weather all the negative things, right. So I'm like I'm not having it, but I did do it, knowing that, hey, I have to prepare now for that race and I want to be the best, physically and mentally, for when I get there. So I guess that's the actual part of it, and the metaphoric part of it is you just don't know what's going to happen that day right, you don't know how you're going to feel, you don't know what's going to happen in your life that could affect your view or your self-talk. So just really kind of building that mental toughness no matter if it's something related to weather or just something else kind of in your life that could be affecting you.
Speaker 1:So these are kind of the five tips that I wanna share for positive self-talk, but really just wanna summarize that for me personally, I felt like the more positive I am, the better mood that I'm in, the better prepared I am for the race, the better off I'm going to do in that race. I'm going to feel really good about it and then, if I'm not, I'm going to go through the race and, depending on the results, I'm going to beat myself up over it in the end. So it's something that has been subconscious, I guess, for a really long time. Sometimes I pick it up Apparently, sometimes I don't. So really being conscious and reflecting on like, how are you thinking about you, know yourself, your race, how are you speaking to yourself and what are those things that you could do to have positive self-talk.
Speaker 1:So there's a book that I'm going to start to read that hopefully, is going to help me in this area around mental toughness. I know there's probably a lot of books out there, a lot of resources, so if you have one that you haven't picked up and read yet, I encourage you to do it. Once I read this book, I'll share it with all of you on kind of what I've learned and make the recommendation to you. But this is something that I definitely feel like I need to work on this year because, beyond kind of the physical things that could potentially hold me back from getting to my goals, definitely the mental aspect is just as important. So this is a really important topic for me.
Speaker 1:So I really appreciate you listening to this conversation. I hope this helps you. You know these are my tips and I'm looking to learn more, as I mentioned. But if you have tips, if you have research, if you have stories to share, go into your Apple podcast app or Spotify, go into the show notes and there is an option to send a message and I really would love to hear from you. I'd really love to hear your tips, your stories and any research or studies that you have. So, with that, thank you so much for listening and have a great day.
Speaker 2:That's it. So with that, thank you so much for listening and have a great day.
