Mental Training

How to Set New Goals and Achieve Them as Life Changes

October 2, 2017

In a perfect world, we would be able to continue improving our whole lives. Not just in running, but in everything; our personal development, our relationships, our compassion and love. All of it. Except life doesn’t happen that way, and actually, we probably wouldn’t want it to even if we DID have the choice, as…

Are You Obsessed With Your Goals? That is Why You Never Reach it

May 15, 2017

commitment, goals

When I stepped away from running, I thought I would immediately lose respect of others. I thought the running world would no longer look up to me as an “expert”, that I would become a “has been” who no one would ever want advice from. Why would I want advice from someone who couldn’t even…

12 Ways to Deal With Injury Depression

April 17, 2017

confidence, injured, injuries, positivity

For many runners all over the US (and potentially the world), the Boston marathon is the pinnacle of their racing lives. Hitting a BQ is the ultimate goal. Although I have not raced the Boston Marathon (edit: I have now ran the Boston Marathon 🙂 ), when I achieved my number one running goal of…

How to Guide: Visualization for Runners

March 27, 2017

goals, mental tactics, visualization

Being back at the Raleigh Relays, a meet I cherished when I was in college, brought back lots of warm memories. I always loved this event, and it gave me a great opportunity to see not only how fast time has flown by, but how far I have come. It put me back into my…

How to Run By Feel Using the Effort Scale

March 20, 2017

mental tactics, pace yourself, running pace

We have all heard it; the running is 90 percent mental quote. Only 10 percent is actually about the training. Although we know deep down that the physical side of training is in fact more important than just 10%, we all know the point that quote is trying to make: The mental aspect of running can…

How to Get Over the Fear of Losing Your Fitness

February 8, 2017

defined by running, return to running, slow runner

A struggle very close to my heart, but yet again, a struggle that is never talked about in a real way. I am going through this right now, and it sucks. I don’t even have it that bad. Firstly, if you are in the situation where you had to have 6-8 weeks of total rest…

Why It’s Okay to Admit You Are Struggling

January 23, 2017

confidence, struggles

Awhile back, it came to my mind that there was a wonderful story I wrote about a few years ago about this very thing, not speaking up. Sometimes it’s hard to let go of your competitiveness when you are just trying to enjoy a run or to even make the most of your run by taking…

How Do You Make a Vision Board?

January 9, 2017

confidence, mental tactics, vision board

The new year is here and we are almost halfway through the month of January, but I think this is still a valuable exercise, and like my good friend Josh Trent said when I interviewed him, we should be focusing on habit change, not just New Years Resolutions. For that reason, you can do this…

How to Use Mental Bottles to Believe in Yourself

December 14, 2016

fueling, mental tactics, positive

I have heard about friends dedicating the final miles to loved ones and people who helped them get there. I loved the idea of that, and I believe you should give it a try to see if it helps you, but for me, I just couldn’t get it to work. But as Team Ice Cream…

Your Best IS Enough and You Will Still Be You

November 23, 2016

health, struggles, supportive

Ooof this makes me nervous. You may find time before a race where you are thinking, I can confidently say that the paper shows I am ready to race well, but at the same time, I am keeping the pressure off. It can be easy at this point to start building it up in our…

Find Your Maggie: When You Have NO Motivation

November 21, 2016

inspiration, motivation, struggles

Have you ever has a week you just couldn’t explain as to why you were having a bad week? Well, I have had those and here is an example of one of rough weeks. A rough week, and even though I felt back to myself now, I can’t put my finger on why this happened.…

23 Thoughts for 23 Miles

October 19, 2016

long runs, marathon

Don’t you get bored? How often have you heard that when you say that you are a runner? ALLLLLLL the time, right? What do you tell them? Well, if your response is like mine, you watch the surprise cover their face as you say, well, yeah, actually sometimes I do…..oh, and I spend a lot…

Why I Don’t Need My Therapist Anymore (Yay!)

May 25, 2016

insomnia, sleep, therapy

Okay, I should have written this post a few weeks ago, but I have had lots of running related information to share with you, and I thought that was more important than an update on my life, but it is something I have been wanting to share and I hope it will help you if…

Mental Freakouts: How to Stay Strong

May 18, 2016

half marathon, marathon, mental tactics, racing, struggles

It is all good saying be your own best friend, love yourself, be kind to yourself, but lets face it, in that moment, it is not so easy to do that. When those voices in your mind are punishing you, what do you do then? How do you handle those moments? Do elites even have…

Be Kind To Yourself. It Will Save Your Running

May 11, 2016

inspiration, motivation, supportive

Here is a post about my feelings I had, during a time before Bailey and when I was still training as an Elite full time. I love being able to go back and see what I went through to become who I have now. Another reason why I have found that journaling has been great…

Build the Life You Want to Live In: How Dreams Come True

April 4, 2016

I moved to the US in 2007. Coming up to 10+ years now. At the time, I did not know I would still be there now, although I knew I loved America from our three year stint in the adorable little city of Bloomington, IN when I was a child. We still stayed in touch…

Letting Go of Control; Trust Your Instincts

February 29, 2016

You may have noticed I have been very quiet over the last few weeks. Or maybe you haven’t. Either way, it is okay, but lets just say I have been a little off…..with everything in my life. I have not really had any interest in talking to people; my family, friends, even Steve sometimes. I…

Why You Need to Change Your Mantra (if You Want to Run to Your Potential)

July 22, 2015

confidence, mantras

Mantras. They are one of the best mental tricks you can use as a runner. I actually wrote about it in a post on 9 mental strategies for Runners Connect. Mantras are the word or short phrase that gets you through a moment in a run or race where your mind is screaming at you…

How to Get Over a Bad Race

May 1, 2015

racing, struggles

Hello Friends! Anyway, today I have a guest post from one of my favorite bloggers out there….I am sure you have heard of her, if not, you need to check her out NOW! I am honored to have Amanda Loudin, aka Miss Zippy. We have become great friends over the last year, and she is someone…

Elite runner Tina Muir talks about how "doing the best you can" does not always mean going hard. Sometimes going easy is what your body needs, and this post explains how to run easy.

Redefining “Do The Best You Can”

April 1, 2015

goals, motivation

A good while ago, I sat down and started writing. Before I knew it, I had an entire post written on why running easy is so hard. Completely unplanned, but I felt that it was worth sharing. I was shocked to see the response by the end of the day, not just from comments, but from…