So I just dipped under that 20 minutes for 5 km barrier and I can tell you it feels good.
It's not super quick given my ambitious nature but I'm getting quicker, so what's the point? Besides a little brag..
The point is this - Self Awareness has led me to this point. I have noticed that the competitor in me always drives for more - for better, faster - but at what cost. Injury just doesn't make sense but me and my kind seem to sponsor a number of industries who largely exist because that animal called win-at-all-costs, "highly competitive" and/or "if it's not scary hard it's not a true effort" keeps pulling back to the brink of burnout or drop out or just down right sabotage.
What I'm seeing at the ripe age of 46 is that Joy is a key to progress and success. That guilt is an important feeling to feel after certain sessions ( just seems too easy ) and that my competitive nature can be tamed and this is a good thing! We can tend to hide behind competitor when actually what's there is a drive that can tend to believe in the fact that if it's not hard it's not worth it.
Maturity is the ability to resist immediate gratification. What this converts into in my case and I know many others is that if you are prepared to see small incremental shifts and 1 degree compounding improvements over long periods of time, you may just experience a new kind of longevity and surprise yourself with the gains with a smile and not a grimace.
So Mind Matters is about learning to know ourselves better to try and see the patterns that work and those that don't and understand that noticing is not enough. Let your friends know, let your coach know and keep talking about the new behaviours that you are looking at that will bring a new edge to your performance and so slowly, patiently you build better behaviour which will deliver better results. To learn to adopt the easy and fun with the focuses and harder sessions and also remembering that rest and relaxation and recovery are where the real gains live.
No secrets in this reminder - just that, remember to smell the roses and enjoy the journey the positive head space can be a mighty weapon.
