Sometimes the pain and hard effort of racing can get to you. Sometimes those negative thoughts start coming in and make you want to give up. These thoughts can bring you down and affect your race. But they don’t have to. Being aware of the thoughts in your head and aware of how they can affect your actions is powerful. Acknowledging that you have control over those thoughts and the ability to change them is empowering. Turning those negative thoughts into positive ones can drastically improve your result. This is true in running as well as the rest of our lives. Everyone struggles with negative emotion. How you choose to channel it is what counts.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

The Ogden Marathon was this past weekend. We wanted to share this awesome story about how choosing to change your thoughts during your race can improve your outcome!

“O-town.

“1st place, barely.

“Eliud Kirui and I were running together through 11 miles. Then I had to take a quick pit stop at the Port-o-Potty. That gave him 35-40 second lead. I came through the half in 1:11:37-ish. I was feeling really terrible. I was burping up my breakfast and my legs had no life. Kirui kept that 30 second gap for a long time, until mile 22 or so. In the canyon my splits were bad, my mind was not strong; I was ready to settle for second.  

“Finally, I stopped feeling like I was going to puke and my legs weren’t getting worse. They were still screaming at me, but weren’t getting worse. Then I passed a random half marathoner, who yelled, “You can still catch him. I know you can. I believe in you!” I have no clue who this person was, they were behind me when they yelled. But, thank you to whoever it was. I thought, “She’s right. I’ve been hitting terrible splits and he’s still only 30 seconds up, go get him. Race!”

“I threw down a 5:09 in the last canyon mile and caught him with 3.5 miles to go. I moved past as emphatically as I could to discourage him tagging along. But he surged himself and passed me back. Back and forth until mile 24. Then he got an 8-10 meter gap, and he held that until two blocks to go at mile 26. Now or never, I turned on the jets and ran by as fast as I could. He didn’t put up a fight and I won by just seconds. It was an awesome finish, my favorite marathon finish yet!”

-Riley Cook – Winner 2019 Ogden Marathon and Ogden Marathon record holder

This is such a fantastic example of the power of our thoughts. The half marathoner that Riley passed offered him the thought that he could still win the race. Riley decided to accept that thought and it paid off! This concept can be amazing for runners or athletes of any sport; and it can also apply to just about anything in life. Those doubts are going to creep in. However, with practice and diligence, we can plan for it, adjust our sails, respond and make the turn around.  It’s exciting to witness what the physical body can do when the mind decides it can.