Running Well With the Best of Intentions, by Lucy Smith

Marathon running is not a simple task. It requires many months of dedicated training and physical preparation. For first time marathoners, the sheer magnitude of the goal to complete 42.2 km creates important ripples that permeate many areas of life. Some people may be unused to the training fatigue and the sore muscles that comes from logging so many kilometres and for the first time in their lives come to appreciate what potential their bodies have. For many, following through with the commitment to do something seemingly impossible, something they have dreamed about for years, gives a great sense of satisfaction and personal empowerment.

As marathoners become more experienced, the thrill of completion often becomes usurped by the desire to go faster, to run stronger for the distance. With the newfound awareness of performance that comes with participating in road races, runners search for more and more ways to meet their goals. Preparation takes on new angles as they search for better training programs, coaching, ideal training groups, superior nutrition and proper hydration.

No matter what your background as you head into your marathon, we all share one thing in common, and that is that each runner has a very personal reason for entering the event. For some, it is the really big physical goal with which to challenge themselves, some may be participating for a cause that is close to their heart and some may be racing to gain experience in the quest for making an Olympic team. Whether your goal is to finish the race in one piece, or to qualify for Boston, in the last days and hours before the starting horn, when all your training is done and you have mentally prepared yourself for the distance, the course, the discomfort and the excitement of the last glorious 400m of the race, there is one more important aspect to ponder.

I call it framing your 'intentions'. Once you can frame your intentions for running, the power and strength of that knowledge and the answer to the question, "why I run" becomes a spiritual guide, a positive energy that you can draw on for the whole marathon and throughout your life. While high performance athletes have been using mental preparation for years in the quest for the perfect race, your intentions behind participating in sport are the foundation for your sense of satisfaction that arises out of your accomplishments.

If your goals are an island in the distance, then your intentions are the sea surrounding you and that island. The goal is always beckoning in the future, but the 'intention' or purpose is present in every moment. If there are any cracks in your preparations, any weak moments in your race or your training, then like the sea, what seeps into fill those cracks, are your best intentions (not your worst fears).

For example, about 7 years ago, shortly after the birth of my first child, I turned to yoga as a way to strengthen and heal my back. I had been having lower back issues for years and it was made much worse by my pregnancy and childbirth. While physiotherapy was helping me understand the underlying causes of the pain, I wasn't getting long term relief. After a very short while in yoga classes, my back issues disappeared and I noticed that I was enjoying yoga for many reasons: the increase in strength and flexibility being one, and a greater sense of calm and focus being another.

I continued practicing with a wonderful teacher and one day I asked, as probably all type A athletes do, when I would be ready to move up to the intermediate level of her classes. I was used to having a goal and without consciously thinking, had decided that there must be a goal to yoga too! My yoga teacher responded by asking me to look at my intention with yoga.

Viewed this way, my intention was very clear to me, and also felt very true, personal and honest. My intention was to become proficient in the basic Asanas, very connected to my core, fully aware and breathing in every moment, and with this particular class, to receive the restorative and meditative benefits that I felt were rippling like osmosis into all aspects of my life. I didn't need to be a yogi, an instructor, have the best yoga clothes or be the best student. Once I became fully aware of my intention with yoga, I could stop thinking about the 'yoga Olympics' and concentrate on the process.

So, as you prepare yourself for your next great feat, once you have done your physical and mental preparation, take a few moments to ponder the question:

What is the intention of my training, racing and commitment?

Chances are it is something very meaningful and important and true for you and you only.  And when you have this intention very clearly  lodged in your consciousness know that in the late stages of the marathon, when your legs hurt and your body feels tired to the very core, when the discomfort is telling you to stop... know that  your inner voice will NOT be saying unhelpful things like "why are doing this stupid race for anyway?". You will be running or walking with purpose, an inner purpose that will guide you through to your best ever marathon experience.

Lucy Smith is a 19 time Canadian Champion in multisport and running and 2 time World Silver Medallist. Her intentions in running can be clearly observed on her running blog www.runforjoy.blogspot.com. She still enjoys just doing yoga.!

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