How Your Left Arm Can Be the Key to Winning

A few years ago I was running in the Venice Italy Marathon. My husband, who is a far better runner than I'll ever be, was light years ahead of me and I was focused on being able to complete the race on my own. I had done the training. This wasn't my first marathon and I was looking forward to celebrating another fine race at the finish line. It all was great until I came to the almost inevitable point in a marathon when everything gets really hard.

Everyone seemed to be passing me. I was tired. My legs felt dead. I couldn't quite find my rhythm. And I was getting a little cranky. And then seemingly out of nowhere a runner fell into step beside me.

"How's it going??" he asked. So I told him. I began listing off my litany of complaints. He listened and when I paused to take a breath he asked,

"How's your left arm??"

My left arm? I looked at him like he was crazy. Apparently he hadn't been listening all that well. My left arm is fine I said. It's my legs and my back and my feet.

"Well then," he said, "Focus on your left arm." He smiled and picked up the pace and left me with that piece of advice.

As I continued along watching him disappear into the crowd, I was distracted from my complaints by his suggestion. Just the simple shift in thinking about things differently made the next few miles easier.

Focus on what's working

How often are you so focused on what's not working that you lose sight of what is working? When it seems like you are running straight uphill, it's easy to become overwhelmed by all the things that aren't going right. The problem is what you focus on increases. So minor problems become major ones. And the little strength that you are ignoring all but disappears.

Getting to the finish line

If you are in any way stretching yourself in life, you are going to periodically hit the wall. Things seem hard and you feel stuck. The finish line seems like it's a long way off. When that happens what you need is a shift in thinking.

· It's common advice that when the going gets tough you should put your head down and just put one foot in front of the other. Try a different strategy. Look up and see the big picture. When you lose sight of where you are headed, every step can be a chore.

· Ask yourself what IS working. Then put your energy into that until you find your rhythm again.

· Hills are flat. They are only hills in your mind. So says running expert John Stanton. The same is true for any obstacle. It's only as big as you want it to be.

· Get back to the basics. When things feel hard, shift your focus to the fundamentals - before taking the next step, what's the one thing you need to remember?

Yes I made it to the finish line. No I never saw that runner again. But he often falls into step beside me when it feels like its all uphill and I remember his advice. And yes my left arm is fine.