A few years back I trained for a 5K.  If you know me at all you know how very unusual that was for me.  I am pretty much allergic to exercise!

For the first few weeks of our morning runs I ran without any music playing.  It was rough.  All I could hear in my head was my own labored breathing.  The more I focused on myself gasping for breath the harder it was to keep going.

So, I dug out an old iPod that was buried in my kitchen junk drawer and loaded up some music to drown out my panting!

What was playing in my head made all the difference in the world!

When all I could hear was my huffing and puffing I was discouraged and I felt every stride. When I played music with a great beat and encouraging lyrics I ran faster and harder and was AMAZED at how much progress I made!

What is playing in your head?  Are you listening to the negative thoughts that try to make their way into our heads?  Are you focusing on how hard it is to keep running? Or are you filling your mind with encouraging words (the word of God is a great place to start), good books to encourage you on your journey, podcasts that you can listen to in your car or when you exercise ~ even your own words that you say to yourself?!?

That’s me in the middle checking and double checking my iPod before we began 🙂

When I finally made it to the day of the race I had my playlist ready to go timed perfectly so that I would not run out of motivating music.  I’d love to tell you that it was spiritual worship music but I’d be lying… It was mostly 70s dance music but that’s what worked for me! As I rounded the last corner and ran the last leg of my race, Mariah Carey was blaring in my head “Make it Happen.”

What’s playing in your head?  Maybe you need to download some new tunes to help you pick up your pace!

I’d love to hear from you what you do to help encourage yourself in your race. Feel free to leave a comment!