The Little Lies I Tell Myself About Running

When I started running, I immediately grabbed any piece of information I could find about the sport— books, magazines, YouTube videos, movies— and learned everything I could. I then set about the process of immediately forgetting all of that information and lying to myself about lots of things related to running, such as:

• The night before a long run: “I can drink a whole bottle of wine by myself tonight. That won’t bother me tomorrow.”
• When I’m injured: “Once I get warmed up, I’ll feel better!” Five miles later: “Just a few more miles, I’ll be warmed up and this will stop hurting!”
• While looking at Facebook: “EVERYONE is running this marathon! I HAVE to sign up or I’ll miss out!”
• When starting a new training plan: “I’m never going to miss a single training run, no matter what.”
• After registering for a half marathon: “13.1 miles is not THAT far. I probably won’t even be tired afterwards.”
• When it’s below freezing and I’m choosing my running outfit: “I’ll get warm once I get going, so I don’t need gloves.”
• At the start line of a 5k: “It’s just 3.1 miles— how bad could it possibly hurt?”
• During a marathon: “It’s not that big of a deal if I wait another mile to take my gel.”
• When buying a new pair of running shoes: “I can just order this completely new model online and it will be fine! All my friends love them.”
• At every meal time ever: “I can eat whatever I want! I ran X miles today, so I won’t gain weight.”

Related: Is It Really Mind Over Matter?

Whenever family and friends interested in taking up running ask me for advice, I only have one thing to offer: do as I say, not as I do! At this point, I’m starting to think I’ll never learn.

What little white lies do you tell yourself about running, training, and nutrition? Tweet @thetrexrunner and @WomensRunning and tell us!