Runners often struggle with negative thoughts when a run or race gets hard. Here are some strategies for how runners can think positive and overcome some of those negative thoughts on the run that often creep into our minds. By focusing on the positive, and changing our thinking, we can learn to get over some of those frustrating thoughts!
Whenever I am training for a race or working towards a goal, I start to put a lot of pressure on myself to get in good workouts and accomplish what I set out to do. This can become stressful over time, especially when it’s something you think about often. Sometimes I am really confident and can think positive thoughts about my training and race; other times not so much.
Being that I am a mental health therapist and I am trained to help people overcome anxious and negative thoughts, I realized that maybe I should start listening to my own advice. Keep in mind that most of my training and experience has been with kids, so these strategies are not only simple but fun too!
How Runners Can Think Positive
When I am teaching positive self-talk to kids we use a strategy called B-L-U-E thoughts to help them remember the types of thoughts they might have. These include “Blaming myself”, “Looking for bad news”, “Unhappy guessing”, and Exaggerating”. We start by identifying our negative thoughts so we can then work on changing them to positive thoughts. Here are some examples of thoughts I might have leading up to a race.
Blaming myself
I didn’t train hard enough. My training plan didn’t have enough long runs and weekly mileage. I should have done more speedwork.
Looking for bad news
When the race gets hard, I am going to give up. The hills are going to be harder than I remember. I’ll hit the wall and have to walk.
Unhappy guessing
The weather will probably be terrible. I always end up with the worst weather on race day.
Exaggerating
This race is going to feel so hard that I won’t be able to finish. I will be so slow that they may not eve let me finish.
How to Change Negative Thoughts to Positive Thoughts
These are pretty drastic negative thoughts, but some are not that far off. So what do we do about it? We change our B-L-U-E thoughts to TRUE thoughts! Here are some questions to ask yourself when trying to make this change:
- What is the evidence?
- Is there another way to look at the situation?
- What would you tell a friend who had this thought?
- What if it is true? Would that really be so bad?
So for example, if I was thinking “The weather will probably be terrible. I always have the worst weather on race day”. I would ask myself those questions.
Questions to Help Runners Think Positive
What is the evidence? There really isn’t any. There is no way to control how it will be on race day. It’s too far out to know the forecast yet.
Is there another way to look at the situation? If the conditions are really that bad they would probably have to cancel the race. I’ve run in bad weather before and my races have gone ok.
What would you tell a friend who had this thought? The weather won’t be that bad, and if it’s not perfect there’s not much you can do about it. Just dress appropriately for the conditions and you’ll be fine.
What if it is true? Will that really be so bad? I’ve run in tough conditions before, and I know I will survive. Those tough races make me a stronger runner!
You may also like: Stop the Negative Self-Talk! 5 Tips to Turn it Around and Improve Performance
It also really helps to have a mantra that you can say to yourself. Practice using your mantra and positive statements during your training runs so they are easier to use when you start having negative thoughts!
You may also like: The Best Running Mantras to Use on Your Run
You may also like: Taper Tips To Get You Ready To Run a Strong Race
Coaches can help runners to think positive
Remember that a running coach can also help you with mental strategies for race day! Sometimes as runners we just need someone to talk these things through with to come up with a plan for how to stay positive on race day. You can learn more about my coaching services here.
Download a FREE Positive Self-Talk Worksheet!
How do you deal with negative thoughts?
Do you start to get all up in your head before a race?
Now it’s time for the Runners’ Roundup! Link up your running and fitness posts below! Join myself, Coach Debbie Runs, Confessions of a Mother Runner, Runs with Pugs , and Laura Norris Running to post your favorite running tips, experiences, race and training recaps, workouts, gear, and coaching ideas.
I have versions of all these thoughts too, but mainly focus on the blaming myself one. I don’t even necessarily blame my training, but rather maybe even with good training I’m not capable of xx time. Then I just say I won’t know until I try. That’s all I can think! There’s so much unknown about every race that I can’t even worry about weather and things like that. And whenever I’m worrying about anything I also do the “how bad would it really be if the worst thing happened?” and it usually works to put things in perspective. I also tell myself it’s the negative thoughts themselves that will slow me down, so I’d better give them up!
Exactly…there is so much unknown that its impossible to say that a certain training plan will lead to a certain result. Just try to have confidence in yourself because you are capable of more than you think!
I love this post. I’m an anxious person so I have definitely experienced those types of negative thoughts. I always tell myself that fearing something doesn’t make it true. When I focus on something negative I tend to treat it like a fact. That bad thing WILL happen (or so I believe). I try to break down my fear and ask myself how realistic it is.
Those are really great strategies! Fear is a part of life, but its how we cope with it that will allow us to overcome it or succumb to it.
You know that I am quite the practical person, and married to a doctor, so this post sings with me–what is the evidence? Or, as Alex would say, what is the literature to back it up? Honestly, he says that all the time, “Well, I would just have to see the literature.” NERD. But you are so right. At the moment, everything could be the end of the world, or the promise of greatness. But it will all be different come marathon day–that little thing called adrenaline will be coursing through you to help out!
I always need to think about about why my anxiety is irrational! It always helps to think about what evidence there is to back it up, because most of the time there is none!
I”m a school psych and love this! It’s so true and it’s amazing how ridiculous your thoughts can look when they are written out or you share them with someone. I think the biggest struggle for me when I’m shooting for new goals is to really just believe I can do it and to have the confidence that I’m ready.
I would definitely agree with that, because even though its silly for me to think that I CAN”T do something, it still leaves me questioning if I CAN do something. But you won’t know until you try, right?
I used to be a mental health therapist for kids too! I worked on an inpatient adolsecent unit. Hard work! Mad props to you. I got burned out and started nursing school instead. It’s hard to overcome negative thoughts for sure! You are going to do great my friend!
I’m sure that an inpatient adolescent unit was really challenging! I’m in a level 5 elementary school, which definitely presents its own challenges! I also do some administrative things off site, which for now has helped to prevent burnout:)
I always stress about the weather too but you can’t control that. So focus on what you can control-your training and your prep the few days before the race. You got this!! Have fun 🙂
#Dishthefit
Very true! Thanks for stopping by!:)
I love the way you break these down and give ways to turn each type of negative thought around. A great technique I learned once was that for every negative thought you have, you should then come up with three positive thoughts to contradict it, to take its power away. I’m usually positive before the race, then the negative thoughts start seeping in toward the last half! (PS: LOVE your blog name! 🙂 )
That is a great idea! I’m gonna try that as well when I start to have negative thoughts about the race!
Love this! I’ve been reading a lot lately about the power of positive thoughts. How just changing your thoughts can give you a new perspective.
Thanks for sharing with the #fitfam!
Trust your training and enjoy the run! You’re going to rock the 26.2 and I can’t wait to hear all about it!
Thanks! And positive thinking can be such a powerful tool!
Sometimes Lisa hates my logical mind … but she does the same things. Break down the problem, analyze the inputs and outputs, figure out what is in your control and not in your control.
When I ran Wineglass in 2013 the temperatures that week shot from me running in my taper with gloves, tights and hat and 30F temps, to it hitting 88F and high humidity on race day. All I could do was hydrate to compensate … I couldn’t control the input, but I could mitigate the outputs.
As for the nervousness .. we are all like that to an extent … it is just what we do with it, and what we let it do to us! 🙂
I think that some level of anxiety is good…it means that we want to do well and we really care. Your story about wineglass really drives the point home. There is only so much we can control, so its best to just focus on that.
I think we all have marathon jitters weeks leading up to the big race. Just trust in your training. You put in all the hard work. Now let it shine and think happy thoughts:)
Thanks! I am definitely going to try to do that:)
New follower…I love this post! I will have to remember BLUE vs TRUE. I am so guilty of deciding the (mostly negative) outcome of a race before I even get there!
I hope it helps! It should be pretty easy to remember, too:)
This is an awesome post!! My husband has helped me overcome a lot of my negative thoughts, he is so positive and when I do think negatively he tells me to acknowledge the negative thought and try to replace it with a good thought!
That’s great- I think we all need someone in our lives who can help us to stay positive.
This is such useful information, i love how it’s all separated with specific questions to ourselves. So often we tell ourselves to think positive, but that can be vague. Your list helps bridge the gap between wanting to think positive, and actually doing it. Thanks so much for sharing and linking up! This is my first time visiting your blog, and I love it! It’s so nice to ‘meet’ you. Take care!
I’m so glad I got to join the link up and connect with new bloggers! And I’m glad you like the tips! Even though they are meant for kids, there’s no reason why adults can’t use them too!
Whenever I do hills I blame myself, one for not doing hills regularly so it isn’t so hard, and two for running the hill. It’s a vicious circle.
Haha I know the feeling!!
Love this! I am a pretty positive person but I do sometimes fall into the “have I done enough” trap. As far as weather goes, I’ve run in SO many really tough conditions (hello Chicago 07 that was cancelled due to heat, MCM in hurricane Sandy and NYCM in the wind) but there’s absolutely nothing you can do to control it. Just yourself. Plus it gives you a lifetime of bragging rights. Haha!
Very true! I will never forget running the Houston marathon in the pouring rain, wind, and cold. I felt so strong being able to endure that! There are some things we can control, and other things that we can’t.
This is phenomenal. I had marathon jitters for the Baltimore Running Festival, however I’m going to use your B-L-U-E technique in everyday stuff! lol. Yea, I know I’m not a child, but I certainly think it can help me when I get super anxious, which seems to happen more often then not lately. Btw, you’re going to rock the crap out of this thing. 🙂
Thank you! I use this all the time even though its meant for kids:)
Loved this! Especially the “will it really be that bad” question. It stinks when things don’t go as planned for a race, but it’s not the end of the world. My mind goes crazy before bigger races. I’ve just come to expect that something (that’s really nothing) will always pop up and be sore or hurt before a race because my mind will over analyze every single thing, especially the day before. I try to remind myself that it’s almost part of my pre-race routine now haha.
I think that is the biggest problem with training for one big race. There is so much pressure! But really, there will be plenty more future races. Not all of them will go as planned and that’s just part of the process!
I love this! Sometimes it is hard to stop and work it but I do believe thinking positive can really turn things around even if you can only come up with one positive thought- it is a start! Good luck with your race! and welcome to the link up!
Sometimes I think we get so caught up in our negative thinking that we don’t even realize we are doing it. I’ve been trying to recognize my negative thoughts so that I can deal with them and try to focus on the positive!
Really great post, Lisa! I am definitely guilty of BLUE thinking before every single race. I even look for evidence that supports my BLUE thinking. For instance I’ll check the weather report 20 times a day leading up to the race and if it says the weather is going to be nice I just assume the meteorologist is wrong! hah. I will have to start thinking about the “what would you tell a friend” suggestion, that’s a good way to start thinking positively again! Thank you!
It sounds like you can really relate, and I hope this can help you in the future!
OMG! 12 days away! That is so exciting! You are going to do awesome! Love the raw truth in this post! And LOVE the 2nd quote you shared, (I pinned it 🙂 ) Thanks for sharing! Found you via #DishtheFit
-Brittany @NFSisters
Thank you! I’m glad that you liked the post and quote!
Thanks for posting this – it was pretty useful. I usually am a worst case imaginer (not a real word but I hope you know what I mean). I’ve always been super anxious but as I get older I think that I’m getting better. What has helped is playing the what if game. What if the worst happens………well come up with practical ways to deal with worst case scenarios. And then thinking about how unlikely it is that any of those things will happen. What if………….the weather is crappy? I hit the wall? I have an awful race. Well what if none of those things happen……have you planned for that?
I know exactly what you mean by “worst case imaginer”! And I love the “what if” game! I actually think that “what if nothing goes wrong” scares me the most…if nothing goes wrong I have no excuses but to give 100%!
I generally don’t get too worried about things out of my control… such as weather. I mean, we can control so much BEFORE the race- all the training and planning and prep, but during the race, all we can really do is stick to our plan and make smart decisions. But things still come up that are out of our control! Just trust yourself that you have done your training, and you are a smart runner that can outwit all those race day elements that we can’t control, we can just react to!
Thanks for your support! I think alot of my anxious thoughts are probably just masking my thoughts about actually just going out and doing what I trained to do!
I think you wrote this post just for me 😉 I’ve been in a super negative place and I am about to go run it out, I love the BLUE and TRUE, I will have to use that! Good luck on your marathon, I am sure you will do great!
Thank you! And I hope that your run helped!
I just found your blog and this post resonated a lot with me. Not just running-wise but with life in general! These are fantastic tips and questions I’m going to try to remember to ask myself when I’m negative.
I’m so glad that you were able to relate! Thanks for stopping by!
I love this systematic approach from BLUE to TRUE. Especially the question “what is the evidence?”. The things we imagine in our heads are often very unlikely to happen.
Although I’m not an overly anxious person, this post was full of helpful advice. Thank you, Lisa!
It really can be helpful to look at the evidence! Or to at least consider whether what we imagine is actually likely to happen.
I am all about this. Being an anxious person, I tend to think negatively. This has been a work in progress for me and over time, I’ve definitely improved my thought process.
PS it was fun to scroll through the comments and look back on all the bloggers we used to interact with!
I was thinking the same thing about all those bloggers when I was updating this post!
I have learned that every negative situation (or, more so, every negative perception) usually has a positive side. It’s not always easy to find that positive side, but if we focus only on the negative stuff, that’s all we’ll be able to process. Even when I have an initial negative impression of something (a person, a situation, the weather, etc.), I try to flip my thoughts to either what can be a positive thing about it or, at the very least, what I can learn from the experience.
It really can help to shift how you think about a situation. Staying stuck in the negative doesn’t allow us to move forward and be productive.
This is a great post, Lisa; I didn’t know you were a therapist. And I’ve never actually heard of these strategies, either. I’ll definitely be adding them to my toolkit — thank you!
I don’t work directly with clients anymore, but I still have my counseling license. These are helpful tools to have when dealing with a tough situation!
This is great. Many of my friends tend to be negative which makes me be more positive. If that makes sense.
I try to look at the bright side. You have to or I would never run in the below zero temps, on tough courses and sometimes even in pain.
Thanks for the reminder. I think we need it esp now.
Its good your friends have someone like you to focus on the positive!
As someone with a psych background, I fully believe in the power of both negative and postitive self talk. A few years back I keep a note pad of all of the negative thoughts I had. I could not believe how many I had! We really can be our own worst enemy!
I bet that was amazing to see! I’m sure I would have a long list of negative thoughts as well. They can really affect us more than we realize so it can definitely be helpful to work on positive self-talk.
This post couldn’t have come at a better time. I have a half this weekend and these negative thoughts have been creeping in. I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking (and have written a post or 2 myself) but sometimes I need a reminder. Thanks Lisa.
I hope some of these strategies can help you for your race! Good luck!
Thanks so much for sharing my post! It can be so easy to fall into the negative self-talk habit. And really not so hard to turn it around. I love that you shared tips that work for kids! Life doesn’t have to be hard all the time.
Once I learned how to teach kids how to do this it became easier to do it myself. We just need to keep things simple!
These are great tips for running and life! I especially like “Is there another way to look at this?” There’s always another way to look at a “bad” situation! So much of running is mental, it’s crucial to get control of your thoughts. Thanks for posting this!
It really is so important to be able to control our thoughts for running. When we have negative thoughts they affect how we feel and therefore how we run.
These are such great tips. I am horrible about my negative self-talk. I blame my anxiety. It likes to worm it’s way in there late at night and punch big, nasty holes in my confidence.