10% Physical, 90% Mental

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted.  I've been dealing with this miserable Arizona heat and not running nearly as much as I would like (do us mom's ever get to run as much as we'd like?).  At any rate, the kids will be returning to school next week (yay!) so I should be back on the horse - or treadmill - very soon!  I have been reading a book called "Run Like a Girl" by Mina Samuels.  It's a lot like "Run Like a Mother" by Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell.  I haven't finished "Run Like a Girl" yet but I can tell you "Run Like a Mother" is much better.  I like the fact that "Mother" was written by two friends - one who is highly competitive and the other more relaxed about her running.  I can honestly say I am the more relaxed one in my group.  What's wrong with that is they are all becoming much faster than I!  What I need to do is push myself harder in training instead of complaining about the heat and saying things like "Oh, she's just faster than me.  Lucky with the gene pool."  I've come to learn that when we race it is only 10% physical ability and 90% mental.  Us women love to criticize ourselves.  I reflect on some of the times I have really fallen apart in a race and it is always mental.  I am physically fine, I just cannot continue (or so my brain tells me so).  My last marathon, I simply ran out of gas at mile 20.  Now, you could argue that is because I could have taken an extra GU or drank Gatorade instead of water.  Who knows?  Bottom line is, I wasn't hurting anywhere I just couldn't make myself run any further.  Yet, when I came to the last mile and heard the crowd, I was able to run quickly and with a smile on my face.  What does that tell you?  The 5 miles I walked and complained to other runners how this was so harder than I remembered didn't help me mentally.  What got me through the last 1.2 miles was, quite simply the excitement of being finished and not letting down that crowd.  I need to work on my mental race so I can start keeping up with my friends or risk being left in the dust.