Trust the Process

“Trust the process” connects to this week’s theme of Patience because, with runners, patience is an unspoken element of trusting the process of the training. You don’t just trust the process; you have to learn how to be patient with the process. Not the easiest thing to do when there are so many peaks, valleys, and plateaus that can occur in one training cycle alone. Patience is what makes trusting the process easier and trusting the process demands that patience be practiced as the runs break you down and build you back up.

I’ve been told to “trust the process” many times and I’ve also been the one to tell others to “trust the process.” Oftentimes, “trust the process” comes up in the thick of training for something incredibly hard, like a marathon or a PR (personal record). What I’ve come to understand about “trust the process” is that trusting the process is really about believing in yourself throughout the process. You have to trust that the starting runner will be transformed by the process into a different and stronger runner at the end. You can trust the process, trust your coach, and trust your training, but you still have to show up and put in the work. Trusting the process alone won’t build up your confidence, strength, or endurance; going through the process is what will.

You learn to trust the overall picture but must also learn to have the patience to put all the pieces together day-by-day, run-by-run. How does one show up and put in the work? By believing that one is capable of either doing the work or trying to do the work. This is where positive self-talk is important because the words you say to yourself are what will begin to color your experience. Before your run are you telling yourself that you can try? Do you encourage yourself to give a run your best while on the run? Or do you doubt your ability before even starting and tell yourself you aren’t strong enough while on the run? To trust means to try and to surrender to the demands of the process knowing that your best is what’s best right now. You trust that there are better and stronger days ahead and you allow yourself to be patient in your waiting for those better and stronger days.

To trust the process is an active practice of believing in yourself and then doing the things that support and reinforce that belief. You got this. I got this. We all got this. We can trust the process while also being patient with ourselves in how we show up during the process.