{"id":37437,"date":"2021-05-21T12:18:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T12:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/long-run-mindset\/"},"modified":"2021-05-21T12:18:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T12:18:00","slug":"long-run-mindset","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/long-run-mindset\/","title":{"rendered":"The Long Run Mindset"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent issue of <em>Runner&#39;s World<\/em>, Jess Movold shared how she lost her passion to press on:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Tempo runs scare me. Those long, hard, sustained efforts always look impossible when I see them on paper. Doubt creeps in. I remember one run in particular&mdash;I saw it on my plan and immediately began creating a laundry list of excuses as to why this was simply just not going to work, why I wasn&rsquo;t fit enough, why I wouldn&rsquo;t finish, why I would fail. Before I even laced up my shoes, I&rsquo;d already convinced myself I couldn&rsquo;t do this. Instead of using the warmup to find my groove, prepare for success, and get excited to make the best of it, I adopted a loser&rsquo;s mindset, revisited my list of excuses, and fell further into a bad attitude.<\/p>\n<p>The problem, I realized, was that I treated my entire training plan like a tempo run&mdash;hard, fast, strict. In a tempo run, if you don&rsquo;t hit your pace early, it&rsquo;s nearly impossible to catch up. In my training plan, I felt like if I didn&rsquo;t hit a workout early, I wouldn&rsquo;t be able to catch up.<\/p>\n<p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>How did she fix this problem? She started treating her workout collectively like a long run:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I love long runs &hellip; settling into a relaxed pace, enjoying the route, and focusing on only one goal&mdash;finishing. I love that I can have a bad mile in the middle and still end strong.<\/p>\n<p>Now, when I set a new goal, I have what I call &ldquo;the long-run mindset.&rdquo; I find success and value in my training because I&rsquo;m not desperate for immediate results like I have been. I care more about the big picture and my long-term goals as a runner. I have shifted my attitude to think bigger than short-term outcomes and work toward lifelong success.<\/p>\n<p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Later, Movold offers this advice:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>In training as a whole, your &ldquo;why&rdquo; will likely be more meaningful but just as important. What are you running toward? Figure out the reason for the miles, and they become easier.<\/p>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3640,3749,3794,3865,3866,3913,3942,4066,4498,4500,4580,4626,4629,4748,4916,4931,5136,5179,5278],"tax_ctp_topics":[382,391,401],"class_list":["post-37437","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-commitment","tax_ctp_tags-dedication","tax_ctp_tags-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-endurance","tax_ctp_tags-enduring","tax_ctp_tags-exercise","tax_ctp_tags-faithfulness","tax_ctp_tags-goals","tax_ctp_tags-motivation","tax_ctp_tags-motives","tax_ctp_tags-overcoming","tax_ctp_tags-performance","tax_ctp_tags-perseverance","tax_ctp_tags-purpose","tax_ctp_tags-self-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-self-sacrifice","tax_ctp_tags-tenacity","tax_ctp_tags-training","tax_ctp_tags-winning-losing"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Long Run Mindset - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/long-run-mindset\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Long Run Mindset - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a recent issue of Runner&#039;s World, Jess Movold shared how she lost her passion to press on: Tempo runs scare me. 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