Positive Mindset

I talked last week about managing what I perceived to be an issue with my peroneal tendon and after dropping into Dara in DC Fitness Physio he confirmed I have peroneal tendonitis (I’ve had more or less every injury going over the years that I can diagnose myself at this stage 😉). The good news is that I can continue to run the bad news is that I can’t run more than 40 mins a day. Initially this felt like negative news but when I actually reflected on it I had a choice whether to put a negative or positive slant on it. I can still get out and run up to 40 mins. It got me thinking about the language we sometimes use and how we look more to the negatives of any situation as oppose to looking at the positives! Even looking at the language above I stated I have good and bad news as opposed to taking in the information assessing it and put together a plan with the cards I have currently been dealt.

Positive mindset now more than ever is incredibly important and anyone who’s read my meanderings over the last few weeks will know its something I believe to be very important but not always something I am good at implementing myself. As mentioned above with any situation we have a choice take a positive or negative slant on the situation. Elite athletes I find are excellent at looking at a situation like an injury or bad competition and taking what they can learn from it, what worked well and parking it and move on to the next competition, match, race etc. From my own point of view I find I dwell on the negatives longer than I should and that makes me less likely to take any positives from a situation as the negatives loom larger in my thoughts. Runners are great or should I say bad at dwelling on what they perceive to be a bad training session and letting it really get them down, whereas instead they should park it and realise that this is training in the bank and not every session is going to be spectacular and nor does it need to be! At the beginning of the first lockdown back in March I actually found I was quite good at looking at the situation we found ourselves in and realising this was an opportunity to bank some solid consistent training and in terms of things outside of running it was an opportunity to read more, watch tv shows I’d be meaning to watch and listen to music and podcasts I wanted to listen to. I probably haven’t been as good with those areas this time around but it’s something I want to change.

The few days before I run a race is where positive mindset is incredibly important but anyone who knows me its when I tend to suffer hugely with nerves and dwell on the negatives as opposed to focusing on the opportunity. A few years ago I read the Autobiography of Charlie Spedding the British Marathon runner who famously had a battle to the line with John Treacy for the silver and bronze medals in the 1984 Olympic Marathon. He talked about being in the call room with all of the marathon competitors about 45 mins before the race and looking around at all these great athletes who were faster than him and started to get very overwhelmed and anxious thinking how the hell can I beat all these great athletes looking at the situation with a very negative viewpoint. He stepped outside for a moment and took some deep breaths and started to look at the situation as a great opportunity stating “I have prepared for this race as well as I can. This is the biggest race of my life and I believe I am ready to run the greatest race of my life”. I love this quote as he wasn’t touted as a potential Olympic medallist beforehand but by looking at this race as a great opportunity, preparing diligently and producing the race of his life he was able to earn an Olympic Bronze medal! I think it’s something most of us probably need to get better at, looking at the opportunity of every situation and moving forward positively with the cards we’ve been dealt with.

For myself this week I’ll get 40 mins run in most days and I’ll work on the areas that need addressing with a big focus on strength and mobility. I got 40 mins in earlier today and without sounding too cheesy had a smile on my face most of the way, as most reading this will testify when you can’t run at all due to injuries, illness etc they’d snap your hand off to get out for a 40 minute run 😉

Have a great week folks 😊

Noel