I have probably mentioned my fangirldom for Tina Muir here on the blog before. If you haven’t, I highly encourage you to check out her new venture at http://www.tinamuir.com–where you can learn more about her Running for Real podcast. One of the latest episodes features Dr. Cindra Kamphoff, who is an expert on the psychology of success. You can listen to the episode here.

One of the mental strategies Cindra suggested really resonated with me–so much so that I shut off the podcast and spent most of my run quietly thinking about it. The strategy uses the power of statements starting with “I can, I am, and I will.” Sometimes I find mental tools a little bit too murky and hard to implement, but I love how this frame allows you to be so positive and forthright. I decided to take a stab at my own “I can, I am, and I will” statements below:

I can:

• I can do hard things
• I can persist despite discomfort
• I can run fast
• I can finish strong

I am:

• I am ready for this
• I am fast
• I am strong
• I am confident

I will:

• I will trust my training
• I will follow my race plan in order to be able to finish strong
• I will do the best that I can on race day
• I will be proud of my accomplishments, BQ or no BQ

I would love to hear your thoughts! What “I can, I am, I will” statements would you make? Any other mental strategies you use for running/racing?

Linking up with Running with Spoons!