Review: Mental Training For Runners, How To Stay Motivated By Jeff Galloway

Last fall, while visiting the Marine Corps Marathon Expo, I had the privilege of meeting former Olympian Jeff Galloway. During my time at Mylan Pharmaceuticals, my weight first crossed over the 200 pound mark. When it happened, I decided I needed to take decisive action. I changed my eating habits, and I started moving (walking/running). At the time Mylan had this walking/running program called the Mylan Milers program. The program was based on the honor system, and encouraged participants to develop a lifestyle of walking/running. There were incentives for achieving 100 (t-shirt), 500 (sweatshirt), and 1,000 (track suit) miles. I decided that I would attempt to move 1000 miles over the course of a year. The year was 1999.

As I started walking and running my way to 1000 miles (I ended at 1,013 that year), I started to get interested in running. At the time there didn't seem to be many books on the subject. (Contrast that today where there seems to be new books and theories coming out every week.) It was back in that time that I discovered Jeff Galloway's Book On Running (one of the best books I've read on the subject). So Jeff Galloway in some ways had served as a coach and a mentor for me in my running life. Although I took a several year hiatus from running, when I picked back up and started training for MCM, I looked to Coach Galloway for advice.

I've been thinking a lot lately about resilience and mental toughness. How do people persevere through hardships of different types and keep going? What is it that helps them to stay focused and motivated. When I saw Mental Training For Runners I had to read what Coach Galloway had to say. I actually ended up reading it during a cross-country flight earlier this year. It is not a long book, but it is well organized and easy to read.

The book is well researched, and rather than jumping straight into the fix, Coach Galloway starts by laying out a few reasons why we may feel unmotivated. He then goes through various ways we can develop mental plans of attack for each of these situations. The irony of the lack of motivation is that there are so many proven healthful benefits to our mind AND body that come from running. As Coach writes, "A gentle paced run activates the attitude-boosting hormones that can instantly transmit good feelings through your body. Within a few minutes, you feel better, more relaxed, have more energy and experience the powerful internal confidence that comes when the body and spirit are working as a team."

One of the best parts of this book is that this Olympic runner shared the fact that as a kid he was overweight and lazy, and that he was able to turn all of this around to become one of the greatest runners in the world. To me, that's inspiration. To know that someone who was once overweight could turn it all around.

Here are just a few of the tactics shared in the book. I won't write em all, but I do recommend the book to anyone who is wrestling with staying motivated and moving whether as a runner, a walker, or just someone trying to move forward with life goals.

1) Smile. This simple act can help you overcome negative thought patterns and change your demeanor and focus.

2) Focus on the positive benefits of the task you are about to (or are currently doing). What will be the result of me achieving this goal?

3) Your reflex brain will start talking to you when your body or mind start to feel stressed. It will work to tell you to slow down, stop, or quit. When it happens, acknowledge it, and speak into it. Laugh and tell it who is boss and keep pushing toward your goal.

4) Concentrate on one challenge at a time. Don't worry about everything all at once.

Whether you read the book or not, may you persevere in bringing your best to whatever you are seeking to accomplish, and may you hone your own mental toughness to persevere through the hard situations you find yourself in!

Review: Blue Mind by Wallace J. Nichols

My wife works as an aquatic rehabilitation therapist, and each year at Christmas, she and her coworkers exchange gifts. This year, one of the items she received was a book called Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, Or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, And Better At What You Do by Wallace J. Nichols. When I saw the book, I have to admit I was a little intrigued. Even though it is Jamie and not I who spends much of the day in or near water, I really wanted to read what this book had to say. Anything that seems to offer me an opportunity to live better piques my interest, and so I was really curious what Mr. Nichols might have to say.

The book did not follow the path I had expected. I expected to learn more about how Jamie's job in the pool was simply adding to her joy and helping her to care for others better (but, with or without the book saying so, I know that it is). What I found was an amalgamation of different threads. Mr. Nichols clearly has a deep love for our liquid planet, and rather than just writing a book about why we should work to preserve and protect our waterways, he wrote a book that looks at strong data to make his argument. Personally, I love the angle he takes. Unfortunately, it is a little too easy to be written off as an 'environmentalist' or 'sentimentalist' when a person talks about taking steps to be a good steward of the created world. Unfortunately, the truth is that more and more of us are losing a sense of connectedness to the world around us. And not just to the world around us, but to the creatures, even the people who live around us. We are growing more isolated and more stressed, and we are starting to diminish our care for other things all in the name of efficiency.

Mr. Nichols' book shows us that there is, not surprisingly, a connection to our mental wellness and the time we spend in the creation. Not only is there a connection to our mental wellness based on time in creation, but, our time near water brings even higher levels of brain activity in the places where we need it most. Time spent on or near water has been shown to help rehabilitate those with PTSD and even people who are struggling with addictions. And yet, so few people make time to spend in or near the water.

One thing I was not clear about, but I assume there is at least a corollary relationship, is whether it matters if the water is from a "natural" source like a river or ocean, or if my wife's time in the pool is equally beneficial. My guess is that it is less beneficial, but that it is definitely better than being away from water altogether.

The book ends with what I believe is a tangent from the main thesis, but it is still a powerful point of connection. Mr. Nichols carries blue marbles with him when he speaks, and gives them to his audience. As he shares data about our blue planet and how spending time near the water benefits us, he takes his listeners down a different path with the marble. He encourages listeners and readers to reflect with gratitude for all of the memories we have made in, near, on, or under water, and then to think of one person for whom we are grateful. As we bring the person to mind, he suggests giving them the marble, and telling them how grateful we are for that person.

While it seems a tangent, I believe that it is an important gift to carry for this reason. When we are grateful, not only are we mentally better, but one small point of gratitude can help us to bring our entire life under the sway of gratitude. When we are thankful, we are more considerate, and that level of consideration extends toward every person or thing we encounter. By associating his audience's gratitude for a person with a blue marble that represents the earth, one cannot help but feel a bit of gratitude for the life we have been able to live on this blue planet, and to develop a "blue mind" in the process.

I recommend the book for anyone who cares about our planet and our waterways, and even for those who don't. Because if one doesn't care, maybe taking a look at all of the benefit we glean from this watery world might nudge one to a greater sense of gratitude and care for the gift of water.

May we each find some space to sit near, on, in, or under the water in the days and weeks ahead, and, as a result, may we find ourselves filled with gratitude, hope, peace, rest, and refreshment, so that we can bring our very best selves to this world around us.