Bonusode (is that even a word?) I am making it one! Today my dear friend and sports psychologist, Evie Servenit is here with us to talk about how to overcome the negative thoughts in a race once they start to flood in.  If you are someone who goes into a race nervous, but confident, however you quickly lose that belief in yourself, this will help you overcome those moments in the future. Evie gives strategies on how to use tactics for every moment of the race where you feel doubt. We even break up the race into sections where we tend to get down on ourselves, and explain how to get through each one using your winning feeling. This is especially important when your body is physically breaking down, and you can barely lift your legs. We briefly discuss DNF and DNS and what questions you should ask yourself before you decide which one to do. Finally, we talk about the mental side of why running focusing on your watch and pace is going to distract you from what you should be doing (and destroy your confidence). This is for you if you struggle to maintain your confidence in races. Today's Guest Evie Serventi My sports psychologist and friend is an expert in building confidence and helping runners with their mental toughness in races. What You Will Learn About How to do a body check, and why it will help you if you are considering dropping out of a race. How to use the winning mindset to beat those race doubts that tell you how bad you are doing. How to break up your race to overcome fears of how far you have to go. Why understanding what motivates you will help you in those moments you start to question yourself. What to do if you have lost your running motivation. Inspirational Quotes A lot of the mental fatigue, anxiety, and stress in a race can often be linked to something physiologically out of balance. You can always learn something from every race. Try to focus on where you are right now. Tell yourself, I am okay, I have got this. Take yourself back to your training, the facts are there. The reality is you have done the training, and it has brought you all the way through that training to the start of the race, and you are fit, you are ready, you are doing it. If you can't reassure yourself, no one else can. Lots of people have virtual running friends. You have your real running friends, and then you have your online running community through one of the social networks, but they can often be just as important as your real friends. If you are suffering, think about why you are doing it. Knowing what are you training for. What are your goals? Is your goal something you really want? Do you need to look at changing your goals? Resources Mentioned Last week's episode with Tom Payn Run to the Top interview with Evie Mental Freakouts Physical Freakouts Mental Bottles Running for Real Superstars Community Evie's website Email Evie: Sportspsych@evieserventi.com Enter to WIN a VI ($250 value!) GetVi.com/Running4Real How to subscribe to Running for Real on iTunes My Marathon and Half Marathon Training Plans Thanks for Listening! I hope you enjoyed today's episode. To share your thoughts: Leave a note in the comment section below. Join the Running for Real Facebook Group and share your thoughts on the episode (or future guests you would like to hear from) Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews will really help me climb up the iTunes rankings and I promise, I read every single one. Subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcast player. Not sure how to leave a review or subscribe, you can find out here. Thank you to Evie, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the show.