Talk to me Mr. Right Brain!

I callibrated my new Nike iPod sensor on the treadmill this morning. The battery died on the old one. You don't replace the battery, or the whole kit, just the little shoe sensor thing. Easy enough. Except you have to recallibrate it. Hope I'm on target this time. It was a bit of a challenge with the first one.

I am thinking I'll do all of my running alone tomorrow so I need a pretty accurate way of marking my distance. Since I am usually running with Julie or George, I let them track distance on their Garmin. Anyway, I need to make sure how far I'm running, rather than just hitting the ol' trail... In case you forgot, I'm scheduled for 18 tomorrow!

A coworker loaned me some running books including "Marathon: You Can Do It!" by Jeff Galloway. He is considered a major running guru. There is some really good stuff in the book. I was reading last night about motivation and the whole 'mind game' of running. That's so true - a huge part of running is mental. I wanted to share some highlights from Chapter 7: The Source of Motivation.

The left brain = logic. This side of your brain is the center of logic. The left brain loves logic, details, facts, words. One of the main missions of the left brain is to steer you away from discomfort. Any form of stress or perceived stress will stimulate messages telling you to "slow down" or "stop". Since we rely on the left brain for logical guidance, we listen to these messages. We do have to pay attention to real dangers (like health things), but usually the left brain overreacts, warning us long before we are in real danger. Motivation training desensitizes us to such messages and the left brain's nagging.

The right brain = intuition. The creative and intuitive center is in the right side of the brain. Mr. Right Brain loves feelings, imagination, symbols. This side loves life and holds creative solutions to problems, challenges and obstacles. By doing things like walk breaks, mantras and motivations, and blood sugar/energy boosting (gels), you can cut down on stress, reducing the messages from the left brain.

Here's a neat test I found to see which side of the brain you use. Which way is the dancer spinning? If you can only see her spinning one direction, try this. I was definitely a left brainer here, but if I tried real hard (after seeing the 'answer') I could go back and make her spin the other way. Let me know what you saw her doing.

I am a *major* Left Brainer. This is great for Angie The Non-Runner, Obsessive Compulsive, Type A, Perfectionist, Crossword Puzzle Addict. This is a problemo for Angie Who Wants To Be A Runner, Who Got Chest Pains During Christmas One Year When She Tried To Be A Type B, Whose Spice Cabinet Is Alphabetized, Who Thinks Index Cards Are The Greatest Invention In the World, Who Thinks It's All Gotta' Be Perfect and Logical. So what does this have to do with running? When I run, I basically need to tell the left brain to put a lid on it. That's the side that is telling me "You need to quit. You can't go any farther. You are not a runner. Why are you doing this? This is crazy. Your legs hurt. You're thirsty. You're so tired. What were you thinking? Stop running right now." Mr. Left Brain needs to just nip it. Shut. Up. The right side is the one that needs to be speaking up. And make it loud. He needs to be saying "I'm a runner. I am strong. I can do this. I feel great. Daddy is with me. He is proud of me. I am in no pain. I will finish." Mr. Right Brain needs to be loud and clear tomorrow. I'm going to be paying real close attention to him.

Good luck to the Country Music Marathoners who are in Nashville for tomorrow's marathon!! Sending special speedy fast vibes to my coworker Kelly who is running in memory of her dad. I am hopeful the weather will hold out for them. Go Kelly Go!!!