How our memory works will never stop being fascinating to me. Back when I was in college, at a small liberal arts university in Tennessee, a friend of mine played for the varsity women’s soccer team. Occasionally, when we’d hang out, we’d stop by her room on our way to somewhere else — a fraternity house party, dinner with friends, or just to hang out.
One time we went by and I noticed something interesting the moment I walked in the door. Taped to a mirror that sat on top of her dresser, all around the edges, were dozens of neon-colored post-it notes, each with a message she’d written in marker — usually with an exclamation point! — to pump her up on game days.
Every message was different, from things like “You’ve Got This!” to “Never Give Up” to “The Only Failure Is Not to Try.” I don’t remember them all, not by a long shot. But I remember that she did this, that she gave herself the gift of supporting herself — to show herself that she believed, even if no one else did.
Now, there are vast swaths of my college experience I’ve lost forever. I can’t remember most of what we discussed in class, or what I wrote in my essays or my answers to the questions in my tests. But for some reason, little moments like seeing my friend’s post-it notes stand out crystal-clear in my memory. I still remember everything about them, including how I felt when I saw them.
Why is that 30-year-old memory relevant to us today, you might ask? Because what I want us all to experience when we go out for a run are wins — whether it’s a big win or a little win, I want you (and me!) to experience the feeling of being successful, of accomplishing the thing we wanted to accomplish.
If you’re following along with us on the weekly training plan, you’ll notice our mileage ticks up this week to 19 miles. I designed the plan to build as gradually as possible, so each week we expand our comfort zone just a little bit of what we think we can do. Each week, as we add 2-3 more miles here and there, we ask just a little bit more of ourselves each time.
It might seem like we’re playing a mental trick on ourselves, but that’s not the way it works for me. I’ve seen (and tried to follow) some training plans that make big jumps in mileage with the weekly long run; going from 6 miles one week to 9 or 10 miles the next, and then back down to 8 miles the following week.
That never worked for me, so that’s why I like a plan that increases mileage just a little bit each week — by the time you reach the end, you’re completely comfortable with running 12 or 13 (or even 24 or 26) miles.
I’ve shared this with you before, but I always struggled with self-belief and self-confidence, especially when I was younger. How other people — like my friend in college — found the courage to do things like going out onto a field and playing college-level soccer, that was far, far beyond anything I’d have considered possible for myself then.
So, a few years later, when I was out of college and took up running for the first time, I felt in no way confident in my ability to run long distances. I’d see lean, muscular runners on the trails near my neighborhood here in Atlanta and think to myself, in no conceivable universe could I do what they’re doing.
It was only by training myself to run just a little bit further every time I went out and ran, that I could expand my idea of what was possible. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was setting myself up for success with each run — I didn’t go out and try to run an ultra for my first race. I started small.
But when you add a mile at a time, your runs don’t stay small. Your zone of what’s possible expands, just a little bit at a time.
When I think back at my friend from college, and how open and honest she let herself be about the encouragement she gave herself, I wish I could say that I did the same. But I felt too embarrassed to give myself a gift like that, to acknowledge that I might need a little boost in believing in myself.
Is there a way you give yourself encouragement, even if it’s only a small thing? I don’t mean a treat or an incentive, but a way to pump yourself up, to give yourself the emotional high-five you might need, at the time you need it? To strive for something you’re not quite sure you can reach?
I’d love to hear your thoughts, and to hear how your running is going — as always, feel free to reach out anytime.
Your friend,
— Terrell
A few things
Last Sunday, I sent out my weekly list of recommended races, which goes out every Sunday to paid subscribers. It included amazing events in California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and the U.K. Read it here 🏃♀️🏃♂️
Over the past few weeks, a lot of us having been having fun connecting in Threads, our new community tab in the Substack app. We’ve been sharing wins, doing Q-and-A’s on running, and more. I hope you’ll download the app and join us 👍
One last thing: I had a chance to play around with an artificial intelligence bot called Midjourney, which can take a word, a phrase, a sentence or even a full paragraph and turn it into computer-generated art.
Yesterday, I tried “runner at sunrise,” and it gave me this:
Yes, it’s kinda unfinished (the runner is missing a left hand and a lower left leg) and it’s rough around the edges. But it’s also pretty amazing, isn’t it?
Our training miles for this week
So how did your 17 miles go last week? (If you’re following the 12-week training plan.) And if you’re following the plan to run a half by the end of the year, how did your 13 miles go?
This week, you’ll notice that we add two miles to the 12-week plan and three miles to the 16-week plan. Here’s what our miles will be each day over the coming week: