Mental Running

That’s the funny thing about running. The deceptive thing about it. It may seem mindless, but it’s really largely mental. If the mind’s not strong, the body acts weak, even if it’s not. If the mind says it’s too cold or too rainy or too windy to run, the body will be more than happy to agree. –The Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Draanen

Running is Mental – What keeps you going?

What got me started running was a review of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. That was the best book I read in 2010.  I loved the stories combined with cutting edge science and medical data.  That book, along with the C25K running program got me started. That was the hook and the bait snagged me.

My problem is that every October, right around the time-change, I get derailed.  My exercise program falls apart.  It doesn’t matter where I am, I get clobbered by SAD and the first thing to go is my workout.

Then sometime after the winter solstice (December 21-22) when the days start to lengthen, I slowly get back on track.  This year it started with a dream.  A running dream.

I was running up and down hills out in the countryside, surrounded by sunlit green fields. 

I fill my head with thoughts of running.  I have to get my mind in gear before my feet begin to move.  Browsing the library catalog I discovered a movie called The Long Run, about an African woman who trains for the most arduous ultra-marathon, the Comrades.
While I was browsing, the keyword, running, brought up a book, The Running Dream, quoted above.  I was intrigued by the title, because I had just had my own running dream. Jessica is a high school track star who loses her leg in a tragic accident. The road to recovery is a long one, full of challenges and growth.

In Born to Run, one of the people interviewed mentions that you need a heart to be a champion. The best part of the story is the way Jessica grows her heart, not just feeling pity, but real empathy for others that she encounters.  I won’t post any spoilers, so you have to read it for yourself.  It looks like this will be my favorite book for 2012, and I have barely started.  Wendelin Van Draanen also brought us Flipped, which was one of my favorite books last year.

What is your favorite mental motivator?  Is it a book?  Movie? or . . . ?