Being a runner is not all about the races, paces, and PRs. Being a runner is about your training runs. It is about saying yes to your training run every day, to give your all Today. Running is about the importance of Today’s run, about forgetting all of the failures and the successes alike, about ignoring the pressure of the race on your calendar. Running is about Today.

If you respect the importance of Today, your races will be easier and you will meet or exceed your expectations. Races will still test every strength you have built during training, but you will pass the test.

Being a runner means making Today your race. You might not be wearing a race bib, but your body is racing, so your mind should be too. Making Today a race means that you get to experiment four to five times a week, you get to discover—before race day—what will work on a real race day. And, perhaps more importantly, what will not work.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not trying to diminish the importance of races, nor am I advocating that you push every day—even runners need rest days and easy days. Brood over your race. Check what McMillan’s Running Calculator predicts for your times and how you should train. Carefully plan your training runs, your training paces, your pre-run, run, and post-run nutrition. Create running mantras to carry you through the temptation of giving up. Be inspired by other runners’ stories.

But as soon as you lace up those trainers, focus only on Today. Do not allow yourself to think about any other day or any other race when you are running Today. There is only Today.

About Xgravity:  Xgravity was the very opposite of a runner for most of her very academic life, but with the goal of completing a marathon inspiring her, she bought her first pair of running shoes at age 24, stumbled upon the best running partner she could have dreamed for, and somewhere along the road to her first marathon, became a runner.