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Mental Tricks for Tackling Your Long Run

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Hi, I'm Tina!

I’m the owner of Carrots ‘N’ Cake as well as a Certified Nutrition Coach and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P). I use macros and functional nutrition to help women find balance within their diets while achieving their body composition goals.

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Hello, hello!

I just got back from a glorious 11-mile run. Ok, “glorious” probably isn’t the best word to describe it””running is hard and not as easy as I remember it, and it’s been really tough for me to get back into it””but this morning’s run was one of the more enjoyable ones I’ve had during my half marathon training.

[rewind to earlier to this morning]

Breakfast

I knew a long run was on my agenda for this morning, so I whipped up a breakfast with lots of healthy carbs to give me some energy for it: plantain pancakes with melt-y almond butter (spread between pancakes) and maple syrup. Yum!

plantain pancakes

Plantain Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 2 ripe plantains
  • 1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour*
  • 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1-2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch of salt

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor.
  2. Pour batter onto a pan/griddle and use the backside of a spoon to shape it into a pancake.
  3. Cook each pancake for 2-3 minutes and then flip. Cook on the other side for about 1 minute.
  4. Serve with your favorite toppings.

Makes 14-16 pancakes

I actually made a big batch of these pancakes, so I can just reheat them in the microwave and eat them all week long for breakfast. Done and done.

* Gluten-free all-purpose flour is kind of gross. For some reason, I expected it to taste like regular all-purpose flour minus the gluten, but it doesn’t. It has this weird metallic taste that isn’t horrible, but I don’t love it either. This recipe calls for such a small amount of it, you could probably substitute a better-tasting flour, which I will definitely do the next time I make these pancakes.

Workout

After breakfast, I took Murphy on his morning walk and bumped into one of my neighbors, who was also out walking his dog. He noticed that I was wearing running gear, so we started talking about my long run. He suggested that I check out Southfield, a nearby community that apparently has miles and miles of paved sidewalks and would be perfect for my long run. Great idea!

11 miles

I took my neighbor’s advice and did the majority of my run at Southfield this morning. I really loved the change of scenery!

IMG_6776 (600x450)

I also loved the miles and miles of paved sidewalks! Perfect.

IMG_6784 (600x450)

IMG_6785 (600x450)

plane at southfield

I ended up taking a water bottle on my run today, which wasn’t as annoying as I thought it would be. I pretty much forgot about it until I was thirsty and then I was thankful to have it.

IMG_6778 (450x600)

I really enjoyed running at Southfield, and I will definitely do some more long runs there!

southfield running paths

Speaking of long runs”¦

Health News & Views

Right now, I’m in the middle of training for a half marathon. My race is just a few weeks away, and while I feel like I am mostly ready for race day, I have to admit, my training hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine.

Sticking to my training plan has actually been somewhat difficult for me. The shorter runs are typically not a problem, but I seriously struggle with the long runs. Physically, they are exhausting, but the mental aspect is what is most challenging for me. The higher mileage is sometimes so overwhelming, I want to quit right in the middle of my run. After running for miles and miles, I often have trouble harnessing the mental motivation needed to get me through the toughest parts.

Instead of bailing on my long run all together, I came up with some mental tricks to help get me through my long runs. Hopefully, they will help you, too!

5 Mental Tricks for Tackling Your Long Run

mental_tricks_to_get_through_your_long_run

Questions of the Day

What are your mental tricks for tackling long runs?

What’s the hardest part about long runs?

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