Have you ever been told to use visualization in difficult, stressful situations? I have, and I've always struggled with it. Resented it, even. If I'm feeling anxious or uncomfortable, the last thing that's going to make me feel better is to picture myself sitting calmly in my happy place, with butterflies and rainbows all around me. Oh, and lollipops. Can't forget the lollipops.
But then this running thing came around, and it's challenging pretty much every assumption I've ever made about the capabilities of my body and mind. I don't want to get ahead of myself here, it hasn't even been a month, but I feel like it's true.
Last week, I was feeling particularly sluggish during my run, and all of a sudden I started imagining myself at Disney World. I'm not going to tell you which Disney character was running with me, because that would be embarrassing (ok fine, it was Stitch), and this is hokey as all hell, but I could hear a band playing Zippidee Doo Dah and people cheering me on as I ran. It was completely exhilarating and without a doubt, this little fantasy got me through my run.
I guess it does work.
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