Every runner has that voice in their head that wants them to slow down or stop altogether. For some people, it’s largely on mute, popping up once in a while when the weather is particularly challenging or in the middle of a tough training session. For others, it’s more of a persistent background presence – always there but easy to shove down and ignore.

And then you’ve got people like me, for whom this voice is a mortal enemy. I’ve joked before that my body is allergic to running – not because I come out in hives when I start to jog, but because the volume at which my head screams at me to stop and walk is so loud it feels like an innate, physiological response. Whether I’m running my local Parkrun or competing in a race, there’s always that noise in the background telling me to quit, to just stop and walk away.

Why is this? According to Dr Josephine Perry, sports psychologist at Performance In Mind, it’s a personality thing. “Running will feel mentally easy for some and very tough for others, but those who tend to find it toughest mentally will be highly intelligent pragmatists,” she explains. “The high intelligence means the prediction function of your brain is incredibly active, constantly trying to identify all the things that could go wrong and the ways you could get hurt. And the pragmatism means that you start to believe the things that the voice tells you about how you should slow down, stop or find a really good excuse for not working as hard as you originally wanted to.” 

The good news is that this kind of loud ‘devil on the shoulder’ doesn’t need to be a barrier to progress; I’ve now been running for four years, completed my first half marathon in late 2023, came back from a broken foot last year and am now training for my second half marathon. Over the years, there have been moments when I’ve fallen victim to this running devil – stopping to walk more times than I needed to during a 5k or avoiding signing up for a race or event for fear that the voice will be too loud – but I’ve also learned a lot about what it takes to manage my internal monologue when I’m running, and I’ve devised some tricks of my own.

It’s worth noting that there’s nothing wrong with stopping and walking during a run or throwing the towel in altogether on bad training days. However, if you want to know how to push through from time to time, I’ve put together this list of the tricks I use to manage my inner voice while running, alongside some psychology-backed tips from Dr Perry. 

1. Know your ‘why’

One of the best ways to become a mentally stronger runner is to know your ‘why’. Everyone has their own reasons why they run, but by identifying yours and keeping it in mind as you run, it becomes easier to push back against the voice telling you to stop. Indeed, Dr Perry says: “The goal should not be to silence the devil on the shoulder but to notice it, and to push hard anyway because you have a reason that is compelling enough to do so.”

My ‘why’, for example, is because I know how good running is for my mental health. I’ve also got a few other goals (such as training for my next race and beating my 5k PB), so I keep those three things in mind when I’m out running and the devil on my shoulder is standing in my way.

Some other good ‘why’ examples include completing a race, achieving a certain time, improving your health, raising money for a charity or simply spending time with friends while exercising. 

2. Balance out the negative with positive

That negative inner voice is sneaky, so if you don’t give in at the first try, it’ll find new ways to convince you that it’s time to give up. Mine tends to resort to some nasty self-criticism – perhaps that I’ll never be a ‘good’ runner or that people are looking at me thinking how slow I am.

Of course, these kinds of thoughts don’t make me feel good, and that can also have a negative effect on my running. So, to balance it out, I make a real conscious effort to practise positive self-talk as soon as I start a run. By telling myself that I’m capable and able to achieve my goals, I’m able to pre-empt some of this negativity and, more often than not, shake it off entirely.

3. Remember the data

There’s nothing quite like having cold hard proof to silence that inner voice. I use an Apple Watch to track all my runs before uploading them to Strava, and having that data to fall back on is great on days when I’m feeling a bit low on confidence.

Knowing how fast I can run a certain distance also helps me to tell myself I can meet a goal I’ve set; the voice in my head telling me to stop isn’t as loud when I know I’ve only got 1k left at Parkrun and I know that I’m quick enough to meet my goal.  

4. Break up the run

This is a really practical and easy one – if you’re finding it hard to run 5k, try to break the run up into 1km sections and tick them off mentally as you go along.

“Chunking down your run into smaller sections can make it feel more manageable and give you a dopamine buzz after you complete each section,” Dr Perry explains.

Another great way to do this is by counting up to the halfway point of your run before counting down the hill to the finish. This allows you to visualise how much of the run you’ve got left as well as how far you’ve come – yet more evidence that you can do hard things.

5. Imagine future you

We’ve all had those moments during a run when the idea of completing another 100m feels impossible, let alone another kilometre. But it’s these moments when you need to imagine the sense of achievement you’ll get from reaching your goal.

There’s nothing quite like that post-run feeling to make you fall in love with the sport even more, and imagining yourself crossing a future finish line or just feeling that uptick in your mood is often all the motivation you need to push through the hard moments. 

6. Name the devil on your shoulder

This one might sound strange, but distancing yourself from the voice in your head can really reduce the amount of power it has. It’s one that Dr Perry uses herself.

“I recommend naming the annoying part of your brain that wants you to slow down or stop,” she says. “Mine is called Lazy Larry – naming it means that when Lazy Larry shows up I can roll my eyes, remind Larry that the only way for me to get faster is to run (which I’m currently doing) and that I will feel amazing when I finish the run if I’ve stuck to my plan.” 

Images: Megan Geall; Getty