Affirmations For Endurance Runners and Walkers

Affirmations can play a key role in helping you to leverage daily the Law of Attraction (LOA) for your training for a marathon, half marathon, or other endurance race.

What is an affirmation?

The Law of Attraction essentially says, "We become what we think about." And we attract more of the feelings and beliefs that we regularly affirm. This is the power behind affirmations.

Why should I use affirmations for endurance running or walking?

You should write and repeatedly read affirmations as an endurance runner or walker because they can focus the Law of Attraction on behaviors and beliefs that will support your racing goals.

Who is the subject of an affirmation?

You should be the subject of each of your affirmations, with the affirmation written in first-person, singular form (as in "I am..."). The reason that having you as the subject of the affirmation is ideal is that your unconscious mind has direct control over you but does not have direct control over anyone else.

How should I write each affirmation statement?

• As a positive, not negative, statement: Your unconscious mind will ignore any "no" or "not" in a statement. For example, your unconscious mind will convert "I do not slow down as I approach the finish line." to "I do slow down as I approach the finish line."; so "I maintain my pace or speed up as I approach the finish line." is the preferable way to write this affirmation. Another reason to write affirmations in the positive is that they feel better to say to yourself. And that single, good feeling that you attach to the statement as you say it gives it a stronger impact on your unconscious mind than would a mixed-emotions, negative statement. A third reason to write affirmations in the positive is a practical one: Positive statements tend to be shorter than negative statements. So you can write them more easily and read them more easily.
• About the present, not the future: Your unconscious mind treats each statement about the present as something over which it has full control. In contrast, it treats each statement about the future as something over which it has no control. In other words, your unconscious mind operates in the present.
• As if it were true, even if it is false today: Every time that you read an affirmation to yourself, you are incrementally strengthening in your unconscious mind the belief expressed by that affirmation. Given that your unconscious mind cannot distinguish between fact and fiction, you can read to yourself an affirmation that is not true today with the assurance that eventually your unconscious mind will align your life with that affirmation such that eventually the affirmation is true. In other words, an affirmation need not be true when written or read, but repeated reading of the affirmation increases the likelihood that eventually it will be true.
• With specificity: Specific statements have a stronger impact than vague, general statements have on your unconscious mind. For example, "I am a five-hour marathoner." is more valuable than "I am a fast marathoner." as an affirmation.

How many affirmations should I have?

The number of affirmations that you have related to your endurance running or walking depends totally on you. Some people prefer to have just a few affirmations. Other people like to have lots of affirmations, including many that are re-worded versions of other affirmations.

Where should I be when I am composing my affirmations?

You should compose your affirmations at a computer in a quiet, private location. You may want to play some inspiring or gentle music while writing them. A few minutes of meditation before beginning could help your writing, too.

Ideally, each affirmation should feel as if it were an expression of your best self -- as if your "higher self" were telling you what it believes you are capable of being, doing, or experiencing.

If you are stumped when you initially sit down to type affirmations into your computer, then give yourself a goal to carry around a pen and small notebook so that you record several affirmation ideas as you go about your daily life. You eventually should have enough ideas in your notebook to produce several affirmations when you return to your computer.

What are some examples of affirmations for endurance runners or walkers?

Here are examples of affirmations that are correctly worded for an endurance runner or walker:

• "I always breathe aerobically when I run."
• "I shave at least one minute off my personal record in every marathon that I run."
• "I eat exactly what I need for each walk."
• "I give myself permission to run my own race."
• "I stop for water precisely when necessary at water stops while walking my half marathon."