Last week I picked up the latest issue of Running Times. There was a short article entitled Being in the Moment by Tamara Rice Lave that really struck a chord with me. The main gist of it was that as runners we should “shut down your brain and just believe”.
The part that really grabbed my attention however was the mention of the Harvard Women’s basketball team and their coach, Kathy Delaney-Smith. Several years ago she coached her team to one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history with the “Act as if…” philosophy (they are the only 16th seeded team in NCAA history ever to beat a #1 seed in the Big Dance).
The idea is to “act as if you already are what you want to become”. Once you sell yourself on the concept, you are that much closer to achieving it.
Now, one of the first things I thought of was, taken to extremes, this could be one of the most idiotic philosophies ever. We’ve seen those people who act as if they are the funniest person in the room when in fact, they’re about as funny as a bowl of white rice; or the guy who acts as if he’s the smartest person in the office, when in fact he speaks plenty but says little at meetings.
I don’t think the “Act as if…” philosophy works for them.
But I DO believe that if you are aware of who and what you are, and have a grasp on what your talent level really is, you can make this philosophy work to your advantage.
It is the little things that Coach Delaney-Smith insists on her players believing in/acting as if that I think have a huge impact on these athletes when they are in the thick of a hotly contested game.
Act as if you’re not tired.
Act as if you’re confident.
Act as if you’re not hurt.
By acting as if these things are true, you can begin to make them happen. And once you learn to instinctively apply it to the little things, you can then apply it to the big race/the long run/interval training. Obviously you (unless your name is Ryan or Mebs, in which case I’m honored you’re reading this) can’t tell yourself or act as if you are going to win the Boston Marathon, but knowing what you know you can do and then acting as if you can go a little faster, harder and longer is well within the realm of possibility.
And you can apply this philosophy to other parts of your life as well. When and where you apply it is totally up to you.
All I know is that in 6 days, I am going to shut down my brain and just believe. I plan on acting as if I’m going to run a 3:20 marathon or better…and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do!
The rest of the article is excellent by the way. I highly recommend clicking over and reading it.
Run Luau Run 
Love this post!
I am going to “favorite” the twitter link to it so that I can read it Sunday night!
thank you.
a.
Great post. I completely agree with the premise. I used to think mantras and ‘brain training’ were a bunch of hooey, but last year I decided to try it. I wanted to go from a 3:47 marathoner to a Boston-qualifying 3:30 guy. That would require me, at age 48, to break my 9-year-old PR. Couldn’t be done, right?
I told myself it COULD be done. All year long, I said, “3:28 — it will be great.” When people asked how I was going to do, I said, “I’m going to run 3:28 and qualify for the Boston Marathon.”
Know what? I did it. I ran 3:28.42.
Lead your mind and the body will follow. Good luck Monday!
Thank you for sharing! You give me great hope for doing it…although I don’t have a handy rhyming mantra like you did.
Three and twenty – c’mon that’s plenty?
Yeah, you’re right. You don’t have a rhyming mantra. Can’t say we didn’t try 😉
I also agree with the premise of the article, not just for running of course but in other areas like our career (Act as if this product development is a success) and our family lives (act as if I am a dependable father). A big part of this is the confidence it brings, but it”s also the recognition that if you don’t act in that manner, no one else will believe it about you either.
And I also love laying the goal right out there for everyone to see. I look forward to seeing you hit your 3:20 on Monday.
Awesome post! Funny – I just wrote a post called “Get Your Head In The Game, Girl!” about the mental part of training…
Love this post! I swear it was directed to me! lol
Love “three and twenty”! That could come in handy near the end when you start to see little birdies flying around your head. Just like the “three and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.”
How about “3 – 2 – 0. Now let’s GO!” or “GO! GO! GO!” or “Gotta GO!”
Mantra or not, you’re gonna rock it!
[…] — by jess @ 6:27 am ** My husband wrote a post on his running blog the other day called Act as if. The title came from the philosophy of famed Harvard Women’s basketball coach, Kathy […]