223. Marathon Mindset – Belief, Identity, and Attitude

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[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_06]: Marathon Running Podcast

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_06]: In this episode, we are going to talk about the Marathon Mindset,

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_06]: Belief, Identity and Attitude.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_06]: This is the Marathon Running Podcast by Letty and Ryan from WE GOT THE RUNS.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_06]: Join us in our running community for weekly content that is motivational,

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_06]: educational and inspirational. And let the Marathon Running Podcast take you

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_06]: the starting line to the finish line and beyond.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_06]: Hey runners and welcome to episode 223. My name is Letty.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_05]: My name is Ryan.

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_06]: And we are your weekly hosts of this podcast that we've had for quite a while now. Thank

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_06]: you so much if this is your first time tuning in and welcome back to our long time listeners.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_06]: We're really excited to have you back.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_05]: As always, we appreciate the feedback. It's great to hear how people get value out of the

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_05]: podcast and helps us to try to figure out what you guys want to hear.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_06]: Exactly, Ryan. And that's really what we're all about. We try to bring value

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_06]: to your life as a runner, try to make your runs better and bring you good information from

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_06]: coaches, trainers, nutritionists and something like today, a podcast about mindset.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_05]: So Letty, you also have a YouTube channel. You want to tell everyone what this week's

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_05]: video is about so that people can subscribe and follow you there?

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_06]: Yes, we've been doing a lot of shoe reviews lately. It seems like that's where really the

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_06]: demand is. So since we do get to sample quite a few shoes, we have done a review on the

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Hoka Sky Flow. And we are also coming out with another one this week, hopefully,

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_06]: which will be the tracksmith Elliot. The reason being is because they are re releasing

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_05]: it this fall. So if you want to hear us stop talking about it, then go subscribe so we

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_05]: don't have to keep trying to promote it. That's right, Ryan. So you can find us at

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_06]: YouTube by typing in at running podcasts into the search bar and don't forget to like

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_05]: and subscribe. So Letty has lots of inspiration to continue the videos.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_05]: So let me update on the marathon training. How's it been going?

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_06]: I've been cramming, Ryan. I've been cramming. So if you guys know,

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_06]: I have a marathon coming up and I think it's two weeks by now. I haven't really trained

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_06]: that much or not as much as I would like to over the summer. And here we are. I've been

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_06]: doing some great long runs though. And when I say long, I mean like 10, 12 milers with

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_06]: marathon pace. So I'm going to rely on that nice muscle memory and hoping that those fast

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_06]: runs will help me catapult me into a great finish. What does your Garmin say?

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_06]: Well, my Garmin is actually saying 341. But that's not what I want to achieve at this marathon.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm trying to go sub 330. And hopefully, like always Garmin lies.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_05]: So we will see and you will have an upcoming video about the race where you

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_06]: interview the race director, right? Yes. Yes. We're going to shine all

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_06]: the lights at the tunnel marathon in Washington happening on September 8th of this year.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_06]: So stay tuned for that. So what are we talking about today?

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_06]: Today, the topic is going to be marathon mindset, a topic that comes in quite handy,

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_06]: not only for me but everybody else listening to this podcast. Because as you know, the brain,

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_06]: the struggle, the internal dialogue during a marathon is probably the toughest part if

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_06]: you've done your training correctly. And so that's always a topic I would love to explore

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_06]: because as you know, we can't really see what's going on between those two years.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_05]: Maybe even more important if you haven't done your training.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Exactly. That's what I'm hoping for to get out of this. So we talked to Whitney Miller from

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_06]: Transcend Health and Wellness. She is a running coach, but she's not just a running coach.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_06]: She is also a strength coach and a mindset coach. And it was very, very nice to talk

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_06]: to her because she goes beyond mantras and little things to say to yourself when things

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_06]: go hard. We talk about the three important pillars that accompany your change of mindset,

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_06]: identity as a runner, your attitude, all that stuff. It was a really great conversation.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_06]: And I feel like after that conversation, my gosh, there's so much more to go deeper in.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_06]: But obviously this podcast is always between half an hour to an hour. So we're touching

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_06]: the base of it. But Whitney has a lot of information available on her website and even some

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_06]: programs or workshops that you can participate in if need be.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_05]: Sounds interesting. I think especially with endurance sports and longer distance

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_05]: or longer time period athletics, the mind game or the mindset is so important.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that learning these things that she talks about and really

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_06]: doing that work on yourself can really help you not just in running, but also generally in life.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_06]: So that's really cool. So you want to get into it?

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_06]: Sure. So without any further ado, I'm now going to play my conversation with Whitney Miller.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_06]: All right. So I'm on here with Whitney Miller. Whitney, thank you so much for joining me today.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, you're welcome. Thanks so much for having me.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_06]: Yes. And so let's talk a little bit about you and what you do to explain to our audience how

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_06]: you are an expert in this field of not just strength training, but also when it comes to

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_01]: mindset that you know quite a bit about that. Yeah. Well, so I own Transcend Training and

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Performance, and I've been coaching for about eight years. And when I started coaching,

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I was in the field of health and wellness. So I was doing health and life coaching. I really thought

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_01]: that's where my business was going to land. And as I continued to grow my business, grow myself,

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_01]: right? I wanted a way to bring my athleticism and my expertise in the endurance world into

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: my practice. And so I grew up a competitive swimmer. I swam from the time I was six until

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_01]: end of college. And so I had a lot of experience in the endurance world, not only in swimming,

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_01]: but I also became a runner after college. So I wanted some way to bring that into my practice.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So I became a certified running coach and was primarily coaching running for a period of time

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and then moved into kind of this like strength and conditioning world.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_01]: So when I work with clients, I'm doing the strength and conditioning. I'm doing the physical

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_01]: training as far as endurance goes. And then I'm also doing mindset. And the mindset piece is

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_01]: really my life coaching background coming into what I work with clients on. And that piece,

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_01]: it's really interesting because when I started working with clients, about 90%

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_01]: of what we would talk about and still I talk about with clients is mindset. There's about

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_01]: 10% that we talk about training, but the rest is really that mindset piece. So that's really

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_01]: a big portion of what I do with clients when I work with them.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_06]: I love it. And especially because I've said this on my podcast over and over,

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_06]: and I also said it to you that it's so crazy that we have all these coaching programs,

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_06]: how many miles and what type of run you're doing on what day, but there's so little

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_06]: information. There is not a single training plan. And I understand everyone's different,

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_06]: but there's really no information, not a lot of information that tells you, okay,

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_06]: these are the things you can do and practice to make your mind stronger.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_06]: Unless the general advice is always like, oh yeah, during your long run,

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_06]: remember this. So then that way when you're in the marathon, you know, you can get through it.

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. Right. But when we think about mindset, really mindset is so much bigger than just,

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I think we think mindset is like the thoughts and that is true, but mindset is also the

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_01]: identities and attitudes that affect how you interpret and react in every situation.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's really not only what you think, but what you believe, what you identify as,

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_01]: how you identify as a person, and then your attitude you have towards things

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_01]: that really affect how you view the world and then react to the world.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_01]: So mindset is not just the thoughts, it's so much more. And I think that that's where we

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_01]: have a lot of work to do in the sports performance world is not just focusing on

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_01]: the thoughts that athletes are thinking, but focusing on those deeper levels of beliefs and

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_01]: identities and then how that affects them in the reaction to their sport reaction to,

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, what they're doing day to day. That's then affecting how they're showing up

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_06]: practice or at a game. Yeah, that's very interesting and very true. I guess, you know,

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_06]: it's not just the mantra as it goes so much beyond that. So how would you tackle that? Say,

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_06]: for example, you have a person that is coming to you, you're writing them a training program,

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_06]: what to run on what day, how do you go beyond that?

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. So, you know, every session that I sit with a client, we always start with

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_01]: and the reason I like to do that is because our brain is so trained to

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_01]: focus on what's not going well. Like if you would be shocked how many times I've sat in a

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_01]: session and said, well, what's going well? And it's like crickets. No one can come up

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_01]: with things. And it's really hard at the beginning when clients start working with me,

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_01]: but that's really just a small piece that anybody can implement into their daily practice

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_01]: like what's going well, especially in training, what's going well instead of what's not going

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_01]: well. So I start with that. Then we move into celebrations. So we talk about what's going

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_01]: well in training. We talk about what's going well in life. We celebrate. And then after

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_01]: that, we move into challenges. So that's where that coaching piece gets to really come into

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_01]: And with the challenges, you know, it's really whatever the client brings to the call. So a

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_01]: lot of times I talk with clients about performance anxiety, self-belief, self-doubt,

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_01]: who they are, who they think they are as an athlete and how that's affecting them in their

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_01]: training. So it really just depends on what the topic is that's brought to the surface.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_01]: But we always start with awareness. So being aware of the thoughts that are happening,

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_01]: that's making you feel certain ways. So a lot of times people will say,

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_01]: let's just take performance anxiety for example. People will say like,

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I get to a race and I'm like have to go to the bathroom 600 times. I, you know,

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_01]: checking the time every two minutes. Like I'm constantly like checking to see where the

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_01]: start line is. So I know how to get there, but it's this like constant just cycle of

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_01]: anxiety. And so we go into well, what kind of thoughts are feeding that anxiety? And

[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_01]: we start with that. Then once we know the thoughts, then we can move into, okay, well,

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_01]: what behaviors is that creating for you? So maybe that's the, like we said, you know,

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_01]: checking the clock every two minutes, going to the bathroom 600 times, you know, like

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe not believing in themselves, things like that. And then once we deal with behaviors,

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_01]: we can then rework the thoughts to change the behaviors. That's the first level of

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_01]: transformation. But then we really have to move into identity after we've worked on that

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_01]: for a while. And identity is the deepest level of transformation, which really just,

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_01]: it takes a lot of work to recreate and rewrite your identity with yourself.

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_01]: That is creating these negative thoughts, you know, that's causing things like performance

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_06]: anxiety or self-doubt or negative self-beliefs. Wow. Okay. So this is pretty packed. Thank you

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_06]: the, what is going well question, because obviously as you were talking, I'm kind of

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_06]: thinking about my current training right now. And I had crickets happening as well.

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah. I kind of think it's very similar though to practicing gratitude, right? Because

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_06]: once you start practicing gratitude in life, then it comes very easily. You're very aware.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_06]: So I'm sure that in the same way, what's going well, once you start identifying the

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_06]: are going well, it comes to easier, easier. But then when you do that, how does that help your

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01]: mind? Yeah. So that's a really great question. So our brain is designed to always be wanting to

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_01]: confirm what we're thinking. The reason being is our brains number one job is to keep us safe.

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_01]: So whenever it confirms the thought, it kind of is like the signal to our brain, like,

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I'm safe because what I thought is true. Okay. So think about if what you're thinking

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_01]: is negative, like you're thinking like, Oh, like let's just take a run for instance.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_01]: On this run, I wasn't able to make my set times that I was supposed to,

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_01]: which equals that I'm not going to be able to make my

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_01]: pace time for my race and I'm not going to be able to make my goal time.

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. So that kind of leads us down like this trigger of negative thoughts. Well,

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_01]: your brain then is going to constantly every time you're on a run, look for all the things

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_01]: that proves those statements right. So you don't feel strong. There's a proof.

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't make a certain time. There's a proof. You don't have a belief in yourself

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_01]: that is a positive one. You think like, Oh, I'm my race is going to just be horrible.

[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_01]: There's proof. And even though it's negative proof, it's still proving to your brain that you're right.

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_01]: So your brain feels safe. So when we flip that and we move into looking for positives,

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_01]: like what's going well, then when you are on your run and you're finding like, Oh,

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I feel really strong in my gate or my breathing is controlled. These things that you're looking

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_01]: for become positive. So then when you show up at your race or when you show up at your next run

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_01]: or your next practice, whatever it is, your brain starts wanting to confirm those positive things

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_01]: because that is making you feel safe. So whether it's negative or positive,

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_01]: your brain is always searching for evidential proof that then it's right. And when it does

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_01]: it goes, Oh, I'm safe. Great. But your brain doesn't really understand that negative maybe

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_01]: doesn't make you feel so great. Positive does make you feel so great.

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_06]: I love this. I'm so glad I asked this question because it just makes so much sense.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_06]: Right? When we think about it, it really does.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_06]: It really does. Yeah. Cause yeah, no. And then so with that, we're changing

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_06]: the way of believing in ourselves because we're obviously believing that then.

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. Right. And we're finding that safety in positive proof versus safety and not negative

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_01]: proof because safety is safety. Your brain, like it doesn't know the difference between

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_01]: anything really. I mean, it's just like its goal is to keep you safe.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_01]: So whether it's safety from that proof of negative things that you're looking for or

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_01]: safety of proof of positive things, it's just, the goal is I have to keep this body safe.

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_06]: Okay. It just wants to be right. Yes. Yeah.

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_06]: Okay. Perfect. All right. So then you were saying that, so this kind of covers,

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_06]: you said believe identity and attitude. You said the hardest one to change is the identity.

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_06]: So once we kind of, I know this is obviously going to be a lot deeper if we work on this

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_06]: more, but just to touch the top of it when it comes to identity, how does that whole thing

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_01]: work? So identity, I mean, takes a lot of willingness from the person to work on because

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_01]: identity is very scary. So think about these things you identify as that you've identified as

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_01]: for your lifetime. So for instance, like let's just take athlete identity, right?

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_01]: You've identified as an athlete for your whole life. And then let's say after college,

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_01]: what is your identity? Because you don't have an organized sport that you're doing anymore.

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_01]: So identity becomes this really difficult thing to wrap your mind around and really

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_01]: difficult thing to rework and recreate a different relationship with. But how it

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_01]: starts is understanding what thoughts are creating these beliefs of maybe the belief of,

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not an athlete anymore. Or the belief of, I'm not strong enough to be an athlete anymore.

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Or the belief of, I'll never find a sport that I love like I loved fill in the blank.

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_01]: So whatever beliefs you're having, it's kind of understanding how the thoughts are connected

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_01]: those beliefs. So it's kind of like A leading to B. So that thoughts are A, they lead to

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_01]: the beliefs which are B. Then you have to look at those beliefs and you have to learn how to

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_01]: challenge them in a very loving and non-judgmental way. And that's where really I

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_01]: always recommend working with a professional on identity shift because it takes a lot of

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_01]: intentional exercises. It takes a lot of intentional questioning, a lot of intentional

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_01]: coaching that allows you to see your identity and recreate it or rewrite it or create a

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_01]: different relationship with it. So here's a great example. I have a client who is in her 60s.

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_01]: She ran in college, ran throughout high school, was one of like top people in her college for

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_01]: running. Well, she's 60 years old and she's still dealing with some of the beliefs of

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_01]: if I don't run fast, I'm not good enough. So that is an identity she's taken on.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And the identity is I have to be a fast runner to be good enough.

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So she spent the last 45, you know, however many years, right? Dealing with this identity

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_01]: that's affecting how she is connecting to her sport, how she's connecting to herself,

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_01]: but also probably how she's connecting to her life as well in some sense.

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_01]: So really working with a coach sitting down, understanding what that identity is and what

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_01]: it is, and then it's like going back and reworking those thoughts and beliefs,

[00:20:13] [SPEAKER_01]: if that makes sense. And that's kind of like a very short answer to a very potent question.

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_06]: Oh yeah, I know we can't wrap up an identity issue in the 30-minute podcast, but I mean,

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_06]: I think this is a great way of going at it. I personally know a lot of retired elite runners

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_06]: and a reason for them not to run anymore is because probably of that, they just

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_06]: don't even know how to approach a race. A personal friend of mine who is a coach

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_06]: who's come onto the show a lot of times, he used to be one of the top marathon runners

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_06]: in the country. And he said after he had retired, it was very difficult for him to

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_06]: even go to a marathon because he was starting in the middle and he was like, what am I

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_01]: going for if I'm not going for everything? Right. Yeah. And so that identity that he had is then

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER_01]: affecting how he is experiencing something that he's trying to do probably for joy, like that,

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_01]: right? Like he's not racing anymore, but he's trying to do something for joy,

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_01]: but it's totally affecting his experience because his identity is wrapped up still in that,

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, I'm here to compete. I'm here to be the best, whatever his thoughts are,

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_01]: beliefs are. So that's a great example of how identity can affect people.

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah. And on the flip side though, a lot of our listeners are people that started,

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_06]: and when I say quote unquote later on in life, weren't collegiate athletes and started running

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_06]: in their thirties, forties, fifties. And so then on the flip side, how do you best

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_06]: start identifying as an athlete when you know, you know, in high school, you hated

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_06]: the mile. You didn't run until, you know, you did the five K to or couch to five K program

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_01]: or whatever it is. Yeah. That's a great question. And I love to dive into that in a

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_01]: workshop that I do called trans and your mindset, but I'll talk a little bit about it here.

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_01]: So really it's kind of the same thing, like identifying those thoughts that are

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_01]: connected to athlete and where did those thoughts come from? So did they come from

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_01]: society? Did they come from maybe it's not even your thought. Like maybe it was your

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_01]: parents thought or a friend's thought, right? But where did they come from?

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_01]: And then becoming aware. So noticing when you are saying those things to yourself.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_01]: So when you notice getting really curious, so noticing and not going, oh, there it is

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_01]: again. Why did I think that and getting really down on yourself, but getting really curious

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_01]: and going, huh, it's really interesting that I keep saying that to myself and pausing

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_01]: and not answering your question. Like it's a very rhetorical question because what that

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_01]: allows you to do, it allows your brain to have some time to marinate. And then when you're

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_01]: driving somewhere, when you're in the shower, right? Whenever your brain has space,

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_01]: oftentimes you'll go, oh, that's why I keep saying that. So it gives your brain some time to

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_01]: marinate. And so once you identified the reasons why you're saying these things to yourself,

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_01]: then you have to change your operating system. So this is where I always compare this to like,

[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_01]: let's say you have a car, it's reliable, it's gotten you to and from places, you've had it

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_01]: years, but you notice like, I just, I kind of want an upgrade. Like I'm ready for an upgrade.

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm ready for the new gadgets. I'm ready for, you know, like Bluetooth connection. I'm ready

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_01]: for whatever, all the things. So you go shopping and you end up buying a different car

[00:24:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and it's an upgrade. So that's what we're doing with identity and mindset is we're not

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_01]: firing this old version of ourselves. We're just upgrading it because this old version

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_01]: of ourselves isn't really working anymore for what we're doing in our life currently.

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_01]: So as someone who, you know, is trying to identify as an athlete, it would kind of be

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_01]: saying, okay, you know, these thoughts that I had of like, I hated the mile in high school

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and, you know, I wasn't very athletic quote or whatever those thoughts are. Like, are they

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_01]: serving you in this version of yourself that you are today? And once you realize, hmm, they're

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_01]: really not. Then it's like, well, what, what do you want to serve you? What is the thought

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_01]: that you want to serve you? And then it's recreating those thoughts and allowing them

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_01]: to marinate and then eventually like upgrade to this newer version of yourself.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_06]: I love this. Yeah, I mean, who doesn't like an upgrade, right?

[00:25:11] [SPEAKER_06]: Right. Right.

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_06]: Better than changing your entire identity. You're still your same person. You've just improved.

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. Yeah. And that's always something good to remind the brains too is like,

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not firing any part of me. I'm just upgrading it. Like those parts of me did a

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_01]: really great job and protected me when I was in high school or whenever I had those thoughts.

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_01]: But now like I have new thoughts and those thoughts are going to do their job in

[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_01]: protecting me for what I want to do now. Okay, perfect.

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[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_06]: Then the last element that you were talking about was the attitude. Can you dive a little

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and react to situations? So if we think about like a thought, let's just do an example here.

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Like maybe the thought is, let's just do I'm not very athletic. How about that? So the

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_01]: thought is I'm not very athletic. The belief is I'm not an athlete. The attitude is maybe

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not very athletic. So think about then every time you see something athletic, you're

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_01]: interpreting it as scary, too hard, challenging, fearful. You're reacting to those things as

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think I'm going to try that. Like standoffishness or oh, you go ahead and do

[00:28:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to join the kickball team. Right? So attitude really affects how you

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_01]: see situations, but then how you react to them. So it's kind of like this rain trickle.

[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Right? It starts at the top with the thought. It goes into the belief and then it goes into

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_01]: who you are, right? Your identity. And then it affects how you see situations,

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_01]: but how you then react to them. So the attitude is really kind of that belief and identity kind

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_01]: of coming into its own personality in a sense, right? And just reacting to whatever the thing

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_01]: is, but then also interpreting it as good, bad, neutral, awesome, scary, whatever the thing is.

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_06]: Okay. So kind of based on that, it almost sounds like, and obviously correct me if I'm wrong,

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_06]: your attitude will change once you have worked on your belief and identity.

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. And these things, I'm talking about them as if like, oh, these things can like,

[00:30:11] [SPEAKER_01]: they change like that. They don't. This is like a practice. I always say mindset is

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_01]: power practice. It's not something that just like you change overnight and then you never

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_01]: have to work on it again. It's something that is a practice, just like you might exercise every

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_01]: day or make your bed every day. Like it's the same thing, right? So it's a practice that you

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_01]: put into play every day. And you're going to have moments where like your old beliefs,

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_01]: they pop in and you've got to say, okay, I hear you. And I choose to believe my new belief today,

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_01]: right? Or maybe you're like, screw it. I choose to believe my old belief because I'm in a bad

[00:30:53] [SPEAKER_01]: mood and I just need to be in a bad mood for a minute. Okay. Right? Like, but don't judge

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_01]: yourself for that. So these things can shift and evolve as you shift and evolved, but they're

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER_01]: very like fluid and you have to control the fluidity of them by practicing these new thoughts,

[00:31:14] [SPEAKER_01]: these new behaviors, these new identities, new attitudes every day.

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_06]: Okay, perfect. It makes sense and it sounds like it's going to be a lot of work, but I

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_06]: think by even just listening to this podcast and creating awareness about it, I think that's

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_01]: already step number one, right? Yeah. And I think we saw a lot of that like in the Olympics,

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_01]: that people watched the Olympics recently. We saw a lot of discussion about mental health

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and about understanding balance and understanding that your sport is not your identity.

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of discussion about that from Simone Biles to Reagan Smith. Like there were

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_01]: tons of discussions. And I think the more we're seeing those discussions, the more we're

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_01]: hearing those discussions. It gives us permission to have those discussions with one another.

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's where all this work starts. And then obviously you've got professionals out in

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_01]: the world that work with people on these things particularly, and those people are always

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_01]: available to help you go further in that journey if you wish. Okay, perfect. And I

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_06]: guess my last question would be what are your or do you have one or two practical tips for

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_06]: marathoners that are going to be very much in their heads once they start their journey to

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_01]: 26.2? What to do when things get hard? Yeah, so that's a really good question. My first thing

[00:32:44] [SPEAKER_01]: is I always like to tell athletes that I work with who are training for a marathon

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_01]: is find evidence. So when you are in a hard spot of your race, find evidence that you can

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_01]: overcome that. So search back in your mind of all the times that you were in practice,

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_01]: that you ran a workout and that you had a hard workout and you were able to overcome it.

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Find that evidence and start building that evidence as you're in your race.

[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And do it as many times as you need. But that I would say is my like top strategy that I like

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_01]: to share with people is borrowing strength from a past experience and bringing it into

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_01]: the present. So it's finding evidential proof which helps your brain feel safe,

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_01]: right? And using that as fuel in a time where you're feeling a little uncertain,

[00:33:45] [SPEAKER_01]: scared, overwhelmed, tired, pain, all the things that come with those moments in marathons.

[00:33:53] [SPEAKER_06]: I love this. Thank you so much. Yeah, you're welcome. Maybe let our listeners know,

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_06]: which like I told you is a lot of runners, how you in your capacity can work with them

[00:34:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and then also how they can best contact you. Sure. So I am a certified running coach. I do

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_01]: with runners and endurance athletes. So if you're looking to train for anything from a 5k to an

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_01]: ultra marathon or an endurance race, so something like running up a big mountain multiple times,

[00:34:28] [SPEAKER_01]: there's all kinds of hiking races, things like that. You can work with me in that facility

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_01]: or that capacity as well. So you can also do strength and conditioning with me. And so if

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_01]: you're looking to get stronger as an endurance athlete, that is an option as well. And then

[00:34:45] [SPEAKER_01]: you have the mindset that is tied into both of those pieces that you'll get as just a client

[00:34:51] [SPEAKER_01]: of mine. So that would be how somebody can work with me. And if you're interested in contacting

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_01]: me, you can always reach out on Instagram at train.with.transcend. And also Whitney,

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_06]: you were saying that you do workshops. How do those work? Are they in person, online and

[00:35:08] [SPEAKER_01]: what topics do they cover normally? Yeah, great question. So I love mindset workshops and I have a

[00:35:16] [SPEAKER_01]: series of six that I typically do together. And they're about mindset judgment,

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_01]: overcoming perfectionism. Let's see, what are the other ones? Race day mindset,

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_01]: fear, and there's one more that I'm forgetting. But there's six that I typically do together and

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_01]: they're all virtual. So you can attend live or if you can't attend live, you can always sign up

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and register and then get the replay. I actually am starting my series of six workshops starting

[00:35:51] [SPEAKER_01]: in September. And it's just a series called Master Your Mindset. So if you're interested,

[00:35:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I can always share the link and you can put that in the show notes for people to

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_01]: share and register if they wish. That is perfect. Thank you so much, Whitney.

[00:36:07] [SPEAKER_06]: You're welcome. Thank you, Whitney, so much for your time and all your knowledge. We

[00:36:15] [SPEAKER_06]: super appreciate you. And for all you listeners, if you feel like you got some great value out

[00:36:20] [SPEAKER_06]: of this and you want to learn more about Transcend Health and Wellness, then you can go

[00:36:25] [SPEAKER_06]: her website, TranscendHealthandWellness.com as she mentioned. And like we said again,

[00:36:30] [SPEAKER_06]: everything is going to be linked in our show notes. So we'll see if let his mindset can

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_05]: overcome the 340 marathon and get to sub 330. Yeah, hopefully with Whitney's help and little

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_06]: tips here, it can only get better, right? And I'll be able to tell Garmin you were wrong.

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_06]: Yes, indeed. So that's it for today, guys. Stay tuned for next week. Next week,

[00:36:56] [SPEAKER_06]: we're going to have another very awesome wholesome episode coming on. We're going to

[00:37:00] [SPEAKER_06]: talk about speed versus endurance and not just how you train differently for them,

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_06]: but the importance of each one of them and how they can work together to make you ultimately

[00:37:10] [SPEAKER_06]: what we want to be better long distance runners. But maybe while you're doing that,

[00:37:15] [SPEAKER_06]: you'll fall in love with shorter distances as well. So who knows? It'll be an exciting

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_06]: episode. So tune in. And with that, have a good week of running. Thanks for tuning in.

[00:37:29] [SPEAKER_06]: For more information and marathon running news, please head to www.marathonrunningpodcast.com

[00:37:36] [SPEAKER_06]: and we'll be back next week.