GAPrunning

Mental

Mental strength is more important than your physical stamina and ability, and directly affects your running more than anything else.

Practice Hard

You play the way you practice. It's an old sports cliche, but is very apt. If you don't take your training runs seriously, when it comes time for a race you won't take that seriously either, even if you want to. For running, this means that you don't let the mental aspects of running slip during a training run and you don't quit until you've planned.

Beat Goals

You need to meet or exceed your goals as much as possible. This is the reason that it is important to set realistic goals. If you can never hit your goals it will be very discouraging and your motivation will fade.

Stay Positive

Unbelievably important. If you are constantly thinking about how far you have to run, or how much your side hurts, or how annoying that car or biker is, you'll crash and burn pretty quickly. Just don't dwell on the negative.

Set Mini Goals

While you are running you can set mini goals for yourself. "Okay, run to that stop sign up there." Then, "Run to that mailbox." These kind of goals can keep you going when you're about to stop. It's especially important if you know that you're not going to make it to set a final mini goal before you throw in the towel. "Okay, I'm about to die, but I'm going to run through that driveway before I stop." This lets you end on a high note, rather than a defeatist one. Obviously it's better to complete your short-term goal for the run and finish, but if you can't, setting a mini goal before stopping really helps.

Run Through

This might not make sense initially, but you should run through any of your goals / stopping points / finish lines, rather than run to them. It takes a subtle mental exertion to make yourself stop running after you cross rather than while you're crossing, and it teaches you to mentally push yourself just a little bit extra. Essentially, it reminds your body one more time that your mind is in control, and that you're stopping when you want to, not because you have to (even though really it may be because your lungs are on fire and your legs are about to collapse). Our track coach in high school used to yell at us if he could "hear our feet" before the finish line, as that would indicate that we were starting to slow down before we crossed.

Listen to Music

This can be an amazing running aid, as it takes your mind off of what you are feeling and keeps you running at a steady pace. A word of warning, however: using music too much can turn the aid into a crutch, and it will hurt you when the time comes for a race and you're running without music. I usually turn the music off for the last mile or so of my run, so that I'm forced to pay attention to my body. This way, it's your own mental strength getting you through the finish, rather than the music's distraction.