Mind games

Another week disappears and the "A race" is now 152 days away when I will be running 71 miles in under 22 hours.  At the moment I'm running 10 miles in 90 minutes so that seems to be a significant increase.  I'm not breaking the mileage down into "marathons" because that starts the mind games.  Whether or not you want to play them there are always times when your mind starts conversations between your ears which are usually of a negative nature, creating doubt.  It's easy to say but this always creates doubt which turns into worry which can be very disruptive.  I've said before, I find January a tough month with the weather and the darkness - I'm an early morning trainer.  So I've got through January and did the minimal amount of training to just "tick over".   But last week I made a decision which gave a huge boost to my motivation and started mind games of a positive nature.  I agreed to start a structured training plan with my coach Genevieve so from Tuesday next week, there will be no hiding, no excuses, just focused training and I know that every sessions will be designed with my progression to this years A race.
As soon as I saw my training plan go up on Training Peaks my attitude changed from "ticking over" to "I can't wait to get started and be held accountable to this plan".  Even this week I was at a conference which meant long days and a few extra liquid carbs, I did a few treadmill runs to make sure I turn up next week in reasonable shape.
On Saturday I was shattered after a hard week so listened to my body and didn't train - I slept for 90 minutes in the afternoon.  As a result my 2 laps at Chatelherault today were faster than normal and I felt great whereas a month ago I was dying running less distance around the same trail.
Mind games can work against you if you let them.  But if you are total focused on your goal and have a plan as to how you are going to get there, it can make a massive, positive difference.  I'm so excited about working with my coach again and being measured and held accountable - bring it on.