Our annual NoCo Half Marathon & 10K is right around the corner. We’re excited, our athletes are excited and it should be a great race weekend.

As anticipation for race week and race day build, we wanted to make today’s blog entry simple – focus on gratitude! How? With a few simple steps.

LOOK BACK – We know we know, most of the time we’re always telling athletes to look forward and don’t worry about what’s behind them as they’re not going in that direction. In this case however, take a few moments to look back on your training history this week, month or year. What’s worked? What was positive? What steps did you take?

STAY INSPIRED – As race day approaches athletes can sometimes loose motivation. Practice your WHY daily or every other day to remind yourself of why you train and why you’re racing.

GIVE ENCOURAGEMENT – This ‘pay it forward’ tip is simple – find anyone in your life (a friend, coworker, family member, stranger at the gym – whoever) and give them a high five or a hug or a few simple words of encouragement such as “great job”. You might be surprised to see how far this goes for their motivation AND your own sense of fulfillment with gratitude.

Athlete anticipation can sometimes lead to anxiety and stress. Flip that! Own it and use it to your advantage!