You trained hard. You tapered right. You visualized the race. And then... it didn’t go as planned. Things go sour. Maybe your legs felt dead, maybe the conditions were brutal, or maybe your mind wasn’t in the game. Whatever the reason, you crossed the finish line feeling disappointed, and that frustration lights a fire in you.

Perfectionism is sneaky. It disguises itself as high standards, motivation, and discipline. For many runners, perfectionism becomes a mental trap that leads to self-judgment, avoidance, and burnout instead of progress.

Like many people I work with, running has been a sanctuary for me, a way to process, a way to quite my mind, and for someone who craves movement in their life a way to direct energy. So of course, running twelve miles ‘sounded’ awesome while I was in the depths of these swirling emotions. Yet, while running and exercise can be a sanctuary, it is still a stress - a load on our bodies and minds. When we’re experiencing a high load of stress in the case of trauma or loss, it’s important to be mindful of that load and adjust accordingly as it’s easier to overtrain and increase the risk of injury due to fatigue and muscle tension.