In this episode, and to honor mental health awareness month, I share the top five strategies I've employed to keep myself mentally tough before running my first Marathon, the 2015 TCS NYC Marathon.

I explain how each of these five ways has grown with me as a person and as a runner. 

Five ways to build mental toughness: 

1. Visualize your most significant goal and create a roadmap of the steps needed to get you there. 
2. Create mantras for yourself to write down, post on your wall, and say aloud during your runs!
3. Distract yourself by focusing on one thing at a time—every run.
4. Clear your mind, whether that's through meditation or journaling! Whatever works for you!
5. Get yourself excited to finish your run! Whether that's a giant piece of cheesecake waiting for you afterward, or a fun dinner with friends, write these things down the night before your runs so you do them and stay consistent.

I discuss how having a growth mindset is an essential first step for being able to master your mental toughness and strategy while hitting the road running during a training run or a race! All the small things you do daily and consistently make the more important goal possible.    

To change your mindset, you need to make yourself a priority and work on developing methods that will help you to change your attitude. My suggestion? Start with your larger goal, and then work backward. Hopefully, the strategies discussed in today's episode will give you some inspiration to motivate yourself to change the way you think about running and your ability to do it. YOU CAN!  

Friendly Reminders:

• Focus on the present and what you have right now. 
• Surround yourself with AMAZING energy and people. 
• Identify opportunities to grow.
• Practice gratitude daily. 

Learning the hard way made me mentally disciplined in a different way. Because of this experience, I can help you figure out a mental strategy to nail your A race and be on your A-game!

If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more about mindset and mental toughness for runners, please share your thoughts in the comments under the show notes. You can also email me at [email protected] with your ideas! I love hearing from you.  

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Thanks for joining me today! See you next week!

Website: https://runafastermarathon.com

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @runwithalli

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