Training Week 4: It's All MENTAL

"It seems like motivation (attitude) must come first, but it doesn't. The most motivating thing to most of us is to do well (achieve). It feels so good that we want to make it happen again...Every week you run farther than you ever have before in your life! What an achievement! And you have come to believe that you can do it again next week." (Whitsett, Dolegener, Kole, p.72)

The relationship between behavior and attitude is brought up in Chapter 4 of the book. Our attitudes justify our behavior rather than cause our behavior. This is such an interesting concept. We do not behave in certain ways because of our attitudes. It means that we develop our attitudes to explain the way we behave. What does all this psychological jargon mean? It means we must DO! Behavior/Actions change motivation (or lack of motivation) and bad attitudes. I need to keep running, follow the schedule, clock the miles and my attitude will follow. Endurance running is a mental sport and that is what I love about it.

Training Schedule:
Day 1: 3 miles (Monday AM) ✓
Day 2: 5 miles (Tuesday AM) ✓
Day 3: 3 miles (Thursday PM)
Day 4: 8 miles (Saturday AM)
This week two miles are added, one to the medium run on day 2 and one to the long run on day 4. A cumulative total of 19 miles. After this week, I will have run 67 miles in 4 weeks and we will be 25% through the training program.
I'm a little bit tired and a little bit sore but it doesn't matter...I am proud of myself and I'm motivated. Mentally, I feel strong and I look forward to every single run over the next 13 weeks.

Additional Running Notes:
-Thick, padded, expensive running socks are worth every penny. Get a pair and you'll notice the difference!
-I've been trying to stretch 10-20 minutes after each run and my knees haven't been hurting as much. I try to hold each stretch to a count of 30. It seems like a long time but it's worth it.
-Changing up running routes and terrain help the long runs go by faster. So does running with other people.