How your mental state can make a good run bad (and vice versa). Running is 90% mental, right?

How a Bad Run Turned Good (After the Fact)

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Every runner knows that running is a mental sport. Here's how this runner's mental state made a good run bad (and vice versa).

We all know running is a mental sport. Yesterday, within the space of twenty minutes, I went from being in the middle of one of the worst runs of my life, to having had a run that reignited my confidence in my own ability. Let me explain.

Apparently, as well as not being able to do basic math skills while running, I am also not so great at programming technology. I used the workout function on my watch to pre-program an interval speed session. I put in my warm up, then my 4 repeats with recovery times, then a cool down. I was shooting for around an 8:20 pace for the speed intervals, but I deliberately set up my watch so I couldn’t see my pace – I wanted to run by feel and see if my effort level matched the speed I was aiming for.

You know you’re running fast when you finish your interval and you make that kind of “Unngghh” sound at the back of your throat instead of just breathing.

When my last set of repeats was done, I looked down at my watch, ready for the cool down period to begin. It told me I was about to start my second interval. Somehow I had programmed it so that my first ‘interval’ was actually all four of them. I was a little irritated, but decided I’d just do my cool down as a separate run. No biggie. And since I was just cooling down anyway, I figured I’d check my splits.

There’s nothing like seeing “9:43” as a pace when you were shooting for 8:20 to make you question EVERYTHING. My effort level felt so much faster. I could feel the difference in my legs and lungs – but that all just amounted to a slow-ish pace I’ve been seeing smattered through my long runs recently.

It didn’t make sense. It was close enough to my warm up pace for there to have been no noticeable difference in my perceived effort. But numbers on a screen can’t lie, right? So I pressed start on my watch and began my 2 mile run home in a total funk.

When a bad run turns out to be all in your head. #runchat #fitfluential #sweatpink

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Every runner knows that running is a mental sport. Here's how this runner's mental state made a good run bad (and vice versa).

I got to the hill – a hill near my house that I’ve been getting better and better at tackling. One I used to have to walk up, then take walk breaks, then run slowly, until finally I could maintain close to my regular pace. Not today. After spending the previous ten minutes silently panicking that I’d lost my ability to pace, or I’d lost all of my speed; after spending that time convinced I was staring down the barrel of a very slow, very painful marathon; I got halfway up that hill and stopped.

I stopped and then I walked. The hill didn’t break me – my mind broke me. 

When I got home, I spent some time licking my wounds  stretching and decided to take a look at those splits again, because it just didn’t feel quite right.

On my second look, I realized my walking recovery pace was listed as 10:00. Impossible. I pulled up a pace calculator and checked the actual time and mileage listed on my recovery and it told me I’d been walking at about a 15:00 pace. Huh. Using the calculator again, I re-checked those speed interval splits.

8:20.  7:50.  8:20.  7:50.

Happy, happy, joy, joy. My mind and my body had been right. My technology was the one that was wrong. And damn it felt good to be right.

Every runner knows that running is a mental sport. Here's how this runner's mental state made a good run bad (and vice versa).

Immediately, my bad run turned good. My mood turned around. I felt pride instead of fear and frustration. It reminded me AGAIN that running is a mental sport. I have no doubt that had I known my actual split times when I started my run home, I would have run up that hill.

Let go of what holds you back in your mind and your body will follow. 

Have you ever let your mind get the better of you on a run?

Actually, a better question is: Is there any runner out there who hasn’t let their mind get the better of them on a run?

P.S: Don’t forget to check out my list of the best running books for women (and you have until midnight tonight to enter the drawing to win two of them!).

What happens when you let your mind control your run? #runchat #fitfluential #sweatpink

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18 thoughts on “How a Bad Run Turned Good (After the Fact)”

  1. Allie

    I swear, sometimes I think we were all much better off without GPS watches!!! I’m so glad you were able to turn this around because I know how painful it can be to look at your watch when it screws up and/or doesn’t have the right pace – it can throw you into the death spiral!!!
    Those splits are FAST mama and I’m glad you were able to figure it all out and use it to build confidence toward the marathon.
    Allie recently posted…Magic In the Miles: What Really Works to Boost Performance?My Profile

    1. Carly Pizzani

      It’s ridiculous how much it affected me. But it was a really good reminder. And thanks for the encouragement on my paces – I had a moment of self doubt this morning when something popped up on my Timehop today of an 8 mile run I did 2 years ago at an “easy” 8:15 pace. But I brought myself back to the present and realized I need to respect my current fitness level and speed and remember I will get faster with training.

  2. Ellen @ Tale of Two Runs

    I hear you lady!!!!! I had the exact same feeling the other day when i cut my long run short from 11 down to 8 miles cause stupid me forgot my fueling gel at home and of course my body is used to get some more enrgey after mile 6-7 and i felt so bad 🙁 But then I saw my avg pace which was 9:04/mile steady and it aaaall turned around!!
    Ellen @ Tale of Two Runs recently posted…Favourite track workouts!My Profile

  4. Paria

    I saw those time on your IG yesterday….super impressed…. I know that the pace on my Garmin (which I’m addicted to) never matches how fast I feel like I am running…. I wear it on almost every run, but even when the numbers are not what I want them to be, I’m so happy that I got out there and ran that I get over it.

    1. Carly Pizzani

      I’ve gotten better about not checking as much – I’m annoyed at myself that I checked halfway through and let it get to me. But I know exactly what you mean about just being happy and grateful to have run. 🙂

  6. Char

    I’ve mentally given up so many times. Just recently my group was doing paced reps and the last was supposed to be at 4:30 pace. I forgot to check my watch when I started so had no idea where the rep ended. It was tough because we had already run a 5k rep and a 3k one and the group was slowly creeping away from me. That’s when I checked out. I told myself I was the slowest and the oldest and it was too hard and slowed down – but it was only 50m from the finish. I’d given up with only 50m to go. If I’d known I was so close to the end I would have kept on pushing.
    Char recently posted…The PB That Wasn’tMy Profile

  7. Rosey Rebecca

    So happy for you that the tech was wrong but of course I think you’re awesome no matter what. My yoga instructor talks a lot about training your mind because your body is capable of such much more than your mind wants you to believe. Love the quotes you included with this post! 🙂
    Rosey Rebecca recently posted…Hashtag: Send Rebecca MugsMy Profile

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