The Ultramarathon Mindset

Life is an ultramarathon.

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Mind Training on a Balance Beam

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A fun way to get focus and flexibility in your life.

I’ve been working on a balance beam for a couple of months. The physical benefits are huge! The micro-movements needed to stay on the beam condition my muscles and the nerves that fire them to be flexible and fluid.

I’ve noticed a massive benefit to my running. I’m running faster. And I’m sure-footed on technical trails.

Body awareness focus: moving meditation.

Ultramarathon mindset is about the connection between your mind and body for peak performance. A part of this is “body awareness.”

And balance is a key component of body awareness.

I practice the Chi Running form of running. This means I lean slightly forward and land on the middle of my foot instead of my heel.

Since working daily on the balance beam, I can feel the difference between being balanced at my ankles vs. the balls of my feet. And that few inches of difference is all it takes to make my run feel like a hard slog or an easy dance.

A deeper dive into what balance beam practice can do.

The Foot Collective is where I found this information. The video is a 20 minute explanation from Nick St. Louis, a physical trainer, about what beam practice can do for you.

Mindset training

I highly recommend this practice for mental focus and its physical benefits. It’s one of the tools I’m using to hone my ultramarathon mindset.

Mindset to go the distance: Trail Talk

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Trail Talk with Abby

I had the honor to pace Abby (her trail name) in the Outlaw 100 this year. Her real name is Kathryn Ivey. Trail names are earned. And we talk a bit about how she earned hers.

The Outlaw is one of the toughest 100 mile courses in the Midwest. It’s a 20 mile loop, and runners have 48 hours to complete the 100 miles.

I met Abby through a running group on Facebook when she asked for pacers. Two of us from Kansas volunteered. She had never met either of us until the day we showed up to run with her.

Abby started running as conditioning for mountain climbing in the Himalayas and South America. Trail running has been her focus for now, but the mountains may call her back before long.

Trail Talk is a free-flowing conversation, like heading out with a friend for a run. We cover a lot of ground in this episode. Click the link and listen in for stories from the trail.

Staying Positive in Chaos – Trail Talk

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With everything happening in the world we need encouragement to stay positive.

My friend, Dallas Amsden, ran only one trail race. His main focus is Crossfit. He joins me for talk about trail running, and he also tells his story of walking through some dark days and nights.

The strategy he shares for dealing with these trying times is to take this as an opportunity to learn a new skill. Or build some new muscles.

Your mindset is a muscle.

We can choose to stretch and strengthen our mindset. It only takes the intention to use it.

One of the most valuable mindset skills is to learn stillness. Practicing meditation or yoga will give you benefits far beyond just a bit of relaxation. For Dallas, and for me, meditation has been essential to keep us moving forward in running and in life.

Do You Really Want It?

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“The Natural” is rare.

My granddaughter is a natural athlete. At nine-years-old, and in her first year of competitive soccer, she scores the most goals in her team.

Her coach says she’s likely in the top 1% of girls her age in Kansas City.

I say that she’s a natural because she doesn’t practice other than her regular team practices. No “soccer camp” or private coaching. Not even kicking the ball around the yard after school.

We’re amazed because most of us aren’t natural athletes.

Easy Button

Can I hire someone to workout for me?

Can you relate to this? For most of my life I always looked for the “easy button.”

I wanted to be in shape and healthy and at my ideal weight. At least that’s the story I told myself.

But I didn’t want to work very hard to get in shape or change how much I ate. Any effort I made to change my life was only half-assed. I did just enough to tell myself that I’d at least tried . . . again . . . and failed.

How much do you want air?

You may have heard the story of the student who asked the guru how to find success. The teacher led the student out into the ocean and then held him underwater.

After repeated dunking, the teacher told the student, “When you want success as much as you want air you will have success.”

Napoleon Hill says much the same in his book Think and Grow Rich.

“You must have a white-hot passion to get rich,” he says.

Because you need passion in your life.

I want everyone to have success and to be rich! I want that for me too.

Above all, I want you to know that success and riches are about more than mere money and achievements. You know deep inside that money and status won’t make you any happier.

Don’t get me wrong! Poverty isn’t noble. It’s awful!

Passion for life, along with money and accomplishments are what makes for a rich life.

So turn up the power for what you want.

Last time I talked about how silly it is to make New Year Resolutions we expect to never keep. What good does it do to set yourself up to fail?

First you have to decide what you want. This is the place most Resolutions and goals fail. We all tend to make wishes rather than decisions. Make a decision that you want it.

Second you have to add passion to your decision. Because passion drives action.

Think about how the student feels when the teacher holds his head under water. You’re not operating from logic. This isn’t an intellectual exercise.

Logic and passion are a potent mix.

The reason so many Resolutions and goals fail is that we decide with our intellect. You know what’s good for you. You know what you “should and shouldn’t” be doing. But logic alone isn’t enough. You need passion . . . your emotions. Commander Spock of Star Trek is fiction. You will remain stuck if you don’t engage your emotions for what you want.

There is no “easy button.”

You can hire a coach. You can study. You can watch training videos. But you have to run your own miles. You have to do your own workouts. No one can do it for you.

The same thing goes for developing your mental strength as well.

The thing is that your mindset is what will make or break your success for getting in shape and eating what’s good for you.

But most of us do even less work on training our minds than we do our bodies.

So you have a choice. Leave your Resolutions in the dustbin and forget about doing anything different this year. Because . . . you know . . . it’s not easy.

On the other hand, you can make this year your best ever. All it takes is a little “want to” mixed with a dash of passion. The good news is this: You don’t have to almost drown to find success.

When you have an “ultramarathon mindset,” you can accomplish more than you imagine is possible. Get started by checking out my FREE guide for the 3-Steps to Guaranteed Success. Just leave me your name and email for instant access.

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Powerball Lottery and New Year Resolutions

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Are you playing a game you don’t expect to win?

Will money make you successful in small business?

Hope is powerful! You need hope to keep going when the going gets tough.

Hope is that flicker of belief that things can get better . . . that things might get better. Even cranky pessimists have at least a little spark of hope, no matter how they try to hide it.

But hope won’t help you change.

Don’t get me wrong! You and I need hope. But hope is focused on something “out there” to happen to make everything better.

Hope is playing the lottery. You don’t expect to win, but you know there’s a chance.

So you’re saying there’s a chance . . .

What most of us do with New Year Resolutions is no different. We invest very little and hope for massive returns.
This kind of hope is like waiting for a miracle.

I believe in miracles.

I’ve seen miracles happen. God will sometimes step in and act for our benefit.

But I can tell you from experience that more often than not God is waiting for us to get off our ass and do something.

My choices determine the life I get.

I put up with a mediocre life for years hoping for a miracle. I’d set goals and only put in a minimal effort. I was waiting for divine lightning to strike and make me healthy, wealthy, and wise.

I finally figured out that God gave me the ability and responsibility to choose what I get in this life.

I wrote about how I changed in my previous post.

Feeling like you “should.”

Turning the page of the calendar into a new year and decade makes us feel almost obligated to make some changes in our life.

Add to this the peer pressure that comes from “everyone making resolutions,” and we tend to make Resolutions about minor quirks or annoying habits that don’t matter all that much.

So we make Resolutions with a handful of hope and a dash of indifference.

Are your Resolutions keeping you from what you really want?

You won’t get rich from playing the lottery.

You won’t get the life you want by making Resolutions each year.

Decide to get what you want.

Any change starts with a decision.

If you’re like me, you want more from life than what you’ve got right now. I plan to keep growing and improving always.

So why not ditch the resolutions this year and decide to go after something you really want for your life?

It is possible to get what you want in life. It starts with deciding what you want and then going for it.

This could be your year . . . your decade. It’s never to late to start.

When you have an “ultramarathon mindset,” you can accomplish more than you imagine is possible. Get started by checking out my FREE guide for the 3-Steps to Guaranteed Success. Just leave me your name and email for instant access.

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Rock Your Resolutions This Year

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Photo by Andrea Davis on Unsplash

Planning to fail!

Have you noticed that most of us make New Year’s Resolutions knowing in our heart that we’re going to fail? In fact it’s kind of a running joke about how long Resolutions last.

I heard someone say this morning that they set a low bar for any Resolutions they make. That’s their strategy for not failing? Why even bother?

Do you make New Year Resolutions?

Something about turning the page on a new year makes us want to do something. None of us are perfect. So there’s always something you can find that you “should” try to change. But think about this: What good does it do if you believe deep inside that you’re going to fail?

I found something that can help.

Ten years ago, I moved from “Resolutions” to goal-setting. It’s kind of the same thing. But a goal feels a bit more serious. You’re supposed to work harder on a goal than a Resolution.

But I had the same luck with goals as with Resolutions.

I followed what the gurus said. I wrote my goals down. I set a deadline. Then I folded my notebook closed and went about my life.

My goal setting ended up being yet another thing I felt guilty about. Another marker that I was a loser. For example, I set a goal to lose 20 pounds for over 10 years. The most I lost was 5. And I gained that back and more each year.

The power of a DECISION.

The year 2017 was a turning point in my life. I wrote my weight-loss goal as a decision. I also wrote the end result rather than the process.

“I will lose 20 pounds” is a decision, but here’s the problem. Our minds need clarity. And negative concepts don’t give clarity. Lose 20 pounds feels squishy.

My mind clicked when I wrote: I will weigh 200 pounds or less on Jan. 1, 2018. The power of writing my positive outcome in the form of a decision was amazing. I went into 2018 at 199 pounds.

This is your year!

What do you want to do this year? If you wrote Resolutions or goals for the year, did you make them as decisions or wishes?

Try this! Take your Resolutions or goals and put them in the form of what you will accomplish or have done by the end of the year.

Before you know it, you’ll be setting and crushing goals you can’t even imagine right now.

Yes, you can do it! I believe in you.

When you have an “ultramarathon mindset,” you can accomplish more than you imagine is possible. Get started by checking out my FREE guide for the 3-Steps to Guaranteed Success. Just leave me your name and email for instant access.

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Ultramarathon Mindset and Running For Life

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Running calms me. It reminds me I’m enough. It allows me to connect with my deepest thoughts and feel all the feels- all the stuff I ignore or am too busy to process in daily life. Running is so much more than just moving my legs, it allows me to move through life.

Find your WHY for the ultramarathon mindset. For motivation and persistence your WHY is a powerful tool.
Photo by Evan Dennis on Unsplash

What is your WHY?

You don’t have to ask yourself why you do what you do. Most people don’t take time to think about their “WHY”. Everyone is buried under busy schedules and distractions like Netflix and Facebook.

Thinking takes effort. So we ignore the philosophical questions like “WHY?” and just focus on “What’s next?”

Why you should find your WHY.

You don’t need to find your WHY if you’re content with an average life. As I said, most people don’t ever think about why they do what they do. They just stay busy.

But if you want to go after a big goal or dream, your WHY can help you keep focused and keep you moving forward.

3 Steps to Help Find Your WHY.

Step 1: Get clear about your WHAT.

Before you can find your WHY you have to know your WHAT.

What do you want? This is the question you must answer.

Don’t be like the guy I used to be! I told myself that I wanted my life to be different and better. I lived way below my potential. But, if you’d asked me back then what I wanted my life to look like, I couldn’t have told you.

Step 2: Write ten or more reasons why you want what you want.

Here’s the time to dig deep. Your mind will try to trick you. Your first “WHY” answers will come easily, and they’ll make you feel good. And you’d be proud to post them on Facebook.

Tell your brain “Thanks! This is a good start, but what else?”

You see, your mind will always be satisfied with the easiest answer. And when your mind gets an answer it’s ready to move on to other important matters.

Bring your mind back to this question and write until you have 10 answer to your WHY.

Congratulate yourself when you’re finished and take a break. Yes, I’m serious. Do something else and give your mind a chance to wander elsewhere.

Then come back to your list and . . .

Step 3: Pick the one WHY that feels the most true.

Please understand this: I’m not saying that any of your WHY statements are untrue.

But some of your WHY’s are more true than others. Listen to your gut and intuition. Pick the one that feels the strongest.

Why does WHY matter?

If you’re a runner, why do you run?
If you’re going after a big goal or dream, why are you doing it?
Pick whatever change you want to make: losing weight, changing jobs, starting a business, changing the world.

Knowing your WHY will do two things for you. (Actually, you will use your WHY for more than two things. But you can discover those on your own.)

First, a strong WHY helps you in the day to day of working for your goal.

To run any distance, you have to put in the miles of training. The longer the race you’re training for, the more important your WHY is. You’re tempted every day to let “life” push aside working toward your goal. Your WHY will keep you on track and focused.

Second, a strong WHY can keep you going with the going gets tough.

Ultramarathon runners know well the “pain cave” that comes when you push your limits. Your body and mind are begging to just quit and forget finishing the race. A powerful WHY helps you bring back your focus to keep moving forward.

“Running is more than just moving my legs. It helps me move through life.”

Your mind is powerful. Most of us never learn how to harness that power. You can get started with my FREE 3-Steps to Guaranteed Success. Leave your name and your best email for instant access.

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How to reset your mindset.

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Ultramarathon mindset coach for the mental long game of running ultramarathons

My mental game fell apart 32 miles into my 100.

The Pumpkin Holler 100, in Tahlequah, OK, is billed as “relatively flat.” This is true if you compare it to other 100 mile ultramarathons in, say, the Rocky Mountains.

I was hot. I was on pavement. (I’m a trail runner. I prefer dirt.) The hills were oppressive. Then, a local resident used her car in road rage against some runners ahead of me, forcing one into the ditch then swerving around another before stopping and backing up and hitting him. (He wasn’t hurt badly. And he kept going.)

And my mental game was dripping away like the sweat I was losing.

I lost my focus.

Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t thinking about quitting. Not even close.

I was moving forward. And I was well ahead of time for the goal I’d set. But from mile 32 to mile 37, my mental game was in the toilet.

From the outside, I looked fine. If you’d asked me, I’d have told you I was fine. So it took me about 5 miles before I saw the danger I was in.

My mind was on autopilot. My body was on autopilot. My thoughts were going like a herd of cats.

Because of my scattered thoughts, I slowed down, and my economy of motion was in a deficit. Now, you know that the government is the only thing that keeps going with an continuous deficit. I was headed for trouble. . . because my mindset had slipped.

Running with focus and flow.

My ultramarathon mindset training doesn’t prevent me from having low points and mental struggles. I don’t just dial in to a zen state and flow blissfully through the miles.

The mental game for running an ultramarathon takes work. Your attention and your focus will wander. In fact, I expect my attention to wander when I’m running.

What works for me is to be in FOCUS and flow for 30 – 60 seconds every 5 minutes or so.

Flow states tend to be fleeting. But my ultramarathon mindset practice gives me the tools to create a “running flow state” at will.

You better pull your head together before you get to the start/finish and pick up your first pacer.

My self-talk at Mile 37

Getting my sh#T together.

I started training my mindset long before I thought about running an ultramarathon.

I’ve narrowed down my niche on this blog to talk about ultramarathon mindset. But my past blog posts were all about how to transform your life. It just so happens that the practice I developed to help me focus on what I want for my life works great for running ultramarathons.

Yes, my mental game was in the toilet. But getting my sh#T together wasn’t difficult. You see, I’ve conditioned my mindset through regular practice. You can say that I train for this.

Just like I train to run, conditioning the muscles in my body to work together to do what I want them to. My attention is a muscle. And I’ve trained my thoughts to follow my attention. That “herd of cats” running wild — my unfocused thoughts — fell in line once my attention gave notice to get this sh#T together!

Energy flows where your attention goes.

Tony Robbins

Winning the mental long-game.

Running an ultramarathon is all about managing your energy. For most runners, this means eating what they need and pacing themselves.

I think the best ultramarthon runners have learned how to manage their attention and focus as well. Because focused attention means focused energy. When my mental game went in the toilet, my energy was going with it.

I’m not an elite ultramarathon runner. I fact, I’m just getting started. And I’m a back-of-the-pack runner . . . for now. But I can feel the difference in energy flow through my body when I FOCUS my attention.

My first 100 mile race.

I’m glad for the lessons I learned in the Pumpkin Holler 100. I learned I don’t want any more gravel or pavement 100 milers. I’ll be running a 100 mile race or two next year. I have a date for redemption with The Hawk 100 in September, 2020. I want to be running on dirt, jumping over rocks and tree roots.

I’m already back at my FOCUS exercises, training my mindset to be ready for when my body is back up to full strength. (I’ve found that my mindset work aids and speeds my recovery as well.)

My sights are set on some bigger goals ahead. I’m going to keep moving forward, past what my mind thinks are my limits!

100 mile ultramarathon finish mindset for running
The best crew and pacers
I could have asked for.
When you have an “ultramarathon mindset,” you can accomplish more than you imagine is possible. Get started by checking out my FREE guide for the 3-Steps to Guaranteed Success. Just leave me your name and email for instant access.

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