I am here. I will finish. I am strong.

I have to talk about this and I mean visualization and mantra's; I really think it's the reason I've been kicking ass on the roads lately.  Today I finished my ride, packed up the bike and immediately turned around and started to run.  The first mile was all about getting loose.  Getting off the bike, I often feel a bit like the tin man.  Things are very choppy and short so I have to be intentional about my gait and arm swing.  Today was tough and I was pretty wiped out and my 2nd mile sucked and was duly noted by my trusty Garmin.  So for the last 2 miles I was very focused.  Repeating over and over again: 

I am here.  I will finish.  I am strong.  

Also being mindful of my spine, really bringing my yoga tools into my run.  Feeling my spine lengthen and keeping my shoulder blades down my back.  Pushing off of my back foot and feeling the strength.  Imagining the finish line on race day, as well as what my truck was going to look like when I finished today.  Rather than allowing my exhaustion to take over, I took back my run and really owned it.  It's too bad I wasn't more aware of some of these tools when I was running marathons, maybe if I had been they wouldn't have been so terrible.  A few weeks ago when I PRed at a 5 mile race, I was doing the same stuff.  Staying present during my run and really focusing my energy. The athlete guide for the 70.3 clearly states, "this is an individual endurance event".  If my mind isn't in it nothing else is going to matter.

Trained 45 miles on the bike followed by a kick ass 4 mile run.