How Pennsylvania Humidity Changed My Attitude

Last July, I was preparing to run a half marathon in my eighth state: Pennsylvania. We were in the town of Erie specifically for this race, and despite my son being born in May, I had done an excellent job preparing for the race. I had done my track workouts in the humidity of summer, ran consistently, and even got a 14 mile run in a couple of weeks out. But when the gun fired off that early Sunday morning, something felt off. I knew by the 3^rd mile that it was not my race, and it ended up being one of the toughest races I ever ran, even though the course was flat and the conditions were great. So what happened?

Part of the reason I was not focused that morning was a good thing: our son was only two months old, and I was anxious about leaving him alone with my wife to run this race in an unfamiliar town. But my mind was also scattered. I wasn’t dialed in, forgot to hydrate, and did little mental preparation. This led to a brutal race, where I was drenched in sweat from the Pennsylvania humidity and found myself lost in doubt every single mile.

Fast forward to this year, where I recently completed the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab, Utah. Here, the conditions were not set for me to succeed. I had prepared, but not anywhere as close to as well as I had for the race in Erie. I had only gotten a few track workouts in, was balancing running with teaching full-time, and on top of that, was dealing with intense knee pain leading up to the race. I ended up taking off 3 entire days before the race while we hiked on vacation, which I had not done before a race like that. I didn’t even bring racing shoes, so I ended up completing the race in my daily trainers. Yet with all of these factors, I ran what I felt was the best possible race I could in the conditions, and a few weeks later I ran a PR in another race in Cincinnati. So what was the difference between these races and that horrid race in Erie, Pennsylvania?

It all came down to my mindset.

Every sport has a mental component to it, but with distance running, it’s critical. The way you prepare your mind and respond to adversity in the moment is what separates people in the sport. To quote the late professional golfer Bobby Jones, “Golf is a game that is played on a five inch course -- the distance between your ears.” In other words, keep your head on straight, because sports are a mental exercise, not a physical one. There are plenty of examples of athletes who either crumbled under pressure or failed from an experience because they did not prepare their minds correctly. While I’m no professional athlete, I know that the importance of mental preparation and positive thinking greatly impacts our ability to deal with challenges. It has really got me thinking about how much success is tied to your mental preparation and resilience.

How often is what we are anxious about or troubled with simply a part of the story we tell ourselves? Whether we are racing a half marathon, dealing with a stressful work situation, or worrying about someone else, we often create our own negative thoughts. But we can create our own story. We have the power to choose our attitude, and that attitude determines so much of our lives. The next time you are having a crappy day, ask yourself if part of it has to do with the thoughts you are letting swirl in your mind or the negativity you are letting command your narrative. It could be that the events of the day just sucked – but sometimes you will find that all you needed was a quick pep talk to turn that smile upside down. When we reframe our minds to see the best possible world, it might just turn out that way.