Running Mantra

One more thing about the First Light Marathon.  I successfully employed a running mantra!

On the trip out, I read the Feb ’11 issue of Runners World.  Superb issue, by the way.  Enjoyed it cover to cover, including all of the features.  One of the articles was on using running mantras to get through running efforts.  While I didn’t take the effort to create my own mantra, and the article did not talk specifically talk about using a song as a mantra, I decided to make one from one of the songs that had made it to the top of my running playlist, Galvanize, by the Chemical Brothers.

Michelle turned me onto this song last year, and I had put it on my primary running playlist.  Since it is a relative newcomer to that list, it has become one of my go-to songs of late.  As I was reflecting on the article, I realized that the key lyric, “Don’t hold back”, and it’s really catchy and rhythmic spot in the song, including the secondary lyric “The time has come to push the button” would serve as the perfect mantra.

I think it worked!  I did not run with my music, but I did have my phone with me, and Galvanize was the last thing I listened to just before the starting gun (they literally started the race with a pistol) went off.  This helped to keep the song fresh in my mind, and in the middle to late stages of the race, especially on the uphills, I went back to those 3 words (Don’t hold back), and that section of the song.  It really propelled me on that day!

I realize this may not be exactly what Runners World was thinking about, but I do recommend you download that song, put it on your running playlist, and use it to propel you on your next big effort!