I’m taking a year off from the marathon, but I’m busy every week making my “next marathon goals”. I’ve been thinking about my secrets to success, hoping to uncover something that might take me to the next level. I’ll continue to update you as I think of more, but here are a few “secrets to success” that I came up with so far.

• Believe in yourself. I wrote about this in my recent ME Monday, and I can’t emphasize it enough. You HAVE to believe in yourself to get anywhere near your goals. It seems like the most simple concept, but it can be the hardest for most runners (people).

This is my confident/determined racing face.

• Trust and commit to your training. Find a coach or training plan you can trust and commit to that training. Don’t worry about other people’s training. There are so many blogs, twitter updates, training logs to check out, but too much obsessing over others’ training can make you lose focus on your own training. Everyone is different. What works for me isn’t going to work for you. Sure, we can learn from each other, but you need to find a training plan you believe in and totally commit to it.
• Do your training. Yes, are definitely times you need to skip a run, or rearrange your training schedule (I rearrange ALL THE TIME to fit my life and the way my body is feeling) but to be successful you have to do the training. It seems a little silly to mention this but it’s important. I remember arriving at college and my coach asked how much of the summer training plan I followed. When I looked at him puzzled and answered “all of it, what do you mean?” he was in shock. This is when I first realized that many people don’t follow their training plans. If you stick to a consistent schedule, you will be much closer to your goal.

Family run time. Getting the training done and having fun!

• Have a support system. A support system can be family members, friends, or babysitters who watch your kids while you run. It can be buddies who meet you early every Sunday morning to make sure you get your long run done. It can be online friends who support your training and help you through the rough weeks. They can help you physically by running with you or cheering on the race course, or they can help you emotionally. Whatever the support system is, find one and it will make your running improve.

Those are my 4 top secrets to success! Do you have any to share?