I) How do you respond to the voice of doubt that springs up when you begin to approach your physical limits? (i.e. do you just silence it, do you engage it, do you use it to an advantage?)
I used to take all my voices of doubt and continuously feed my anxious mind with them without trying to understand where they are coming from. In the long run, it would do more harm and I became more isolated. Now, I try to breathe through my negative thoughts and try to use positive words and reinforcement to help make them disappear. I learned with time that you can't just silence them and pretend they don't exist because they will come back stronger, it's best to learn and live through them and use positive thinking and meditation to help power through them.
II) How much effort do you think you allocate to the mental side of your training conditioning?
It is so important. I continuously put effort into working my mental mind through my training. For me, running is a form of therapy so it's important to include mindful training into my regular running training like nose breathing while running, visual meditation runs and such.
III) How often do you encounter failure (either in training or in competing) and how do you interact with it during/after it has held you back from your goal?
DNF's are a part of the game and sometimes not all training sessions are great. I used to take it really hard mentally at first but now I have grown at peace with my training and racing failures. Instead of taking it hard, I try to reground myself and ask myself honest questions on what did not work and why. Sometimes there are not always answers, but having a self-talk conversation about it with myself makes me grow more and understand more about myself and the love of running.
IV) What is your main source of motivation that allows you to elevate your game beyond 100%? In other words, what is it within you that accounts for that extra push when you really need it?
To me, it's always about having fun. My motivation is to spend time outside and to simply enjoy the process and make sure that I am always enjoying trail running. I trail run for my mental mind and giving myself big goals helps me overcome certain anxiety and fears and pushed me out of my comfort zone. To me, it's all about nature therapy and working my body through pain but always keeping a smile.
V) Have you tried functional mushrooms? If so what kind
I am actually allergic! But I am scheduled in a month to go for a new allergy test to see if I am still allergic so.
VII) have you ever experienced psychedelic mushrooms .. if so what kind?
No, because I am allergic!
Thank you !!!
Endorf
Photo:
Kam Vachon (@kamvachon)
BESIDE Habitat (@beside_habitat)