More on Body Image

I had a crappy run this morning, even the magic shoes failed me  :-(  Damn you, fickle magic shoes. I could probably blame the beer I had last night, or overtraining, or not getting enough sleep. But I don't think that was it. I think my shirt was a little too tight, and it made me feel so self-conscious about my salad-and-coconut-water-filled gut flapping around above my running shorts that I couldn't focus. I kept imagining people in their cars staring at it as I trotted by. I kept thinking how awful and out of shape I must look. Nevermind that it was dark and drizzling and anyone out running at 6:00 am in that weather is probably in decent shape. Nevermind that I had a great yoga practice the night before and a healthy dinner. Nevermind that I have a strong body that gets me through all kinds of things and a man who loves me no matter how I look in a bikini.

My body is strong, but my mind is weak.

So there you have it. Self-confidence has a strong and noticable impact on performance in athletics. And probably in life too. With that, I am going to send you over to APW, where there is a good post on body image and the way smart women beat themselves up about their bodies. And then beat themselves up for beating themselves up about their bodies. Double negativity. No wonder I had a crappy run.