Getting After It

132 - Train Your Mind or Lose the Distance

• Brett Rossell • Season 4 • Episode 132

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This one’s personal.

I had to write “DNF” next to my name today—Did Not Finish—and it stung more than I expected. Not because my legs gave out. But because my mind did.

In this episode, I walk you through a run I didn’t finish and the hard truth behind it: I wasn’t mentally bought in. I showed up thinking I could coast off past accomplishments, that grit alone would carry me. But here's what I learned—without the mind, the body doesn’t stand a chance.

We dive into:

  • Why showing up physically isn’t enough
  • The importance of mental rehearsal, visualization, and internal cues
  • What regret feels like when you almost went the distance
  • 5 ways to train your mind like your body
  • And why pain isn’t the enemy—comfort is

This isn’t about running. It’s about how we all face moments where the challenge hits harder than expected—and how the ones who make it through aren’t the strongest, but the most prepared.

If you’re chasing something big, if you're struggling with self-doubt, or if you've ever come up short and hated the way it felt—this episode is for you.

Don’t trade your potential for ease. Don’t live a life full of almosts. Get mentally bought in—and keep getting after it.

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I hope today’s episode sparked something within you to pursue your dreams and unlock your true potential. If you found value in it, consider sharing it with someone who might need that same push.

This podcast is built for you—the dreamers and the doers. My goal is to provide a space where you can find inspiration, learn from others, and feel empowered to chase what matters most to you.

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Brett:

My friends, welcome back to the Getting After it podcast. As always, happy you're here. It means a lot that you just decided to sit down with your friend Brett today and talk about some things. I have been having a tough day. It's been an interesting one Not tough as, like you know, I'm in an existential crisis thing but mentally it's been a hard day and I'll go into why. Crisis thing, but mentally it's been a hard day and I'll go into why. But the whole point of this episode is to talk about the importance of keeping the body and mind tied to the same goal. Without the body, the goals can't be done. Without the mind, you might as well not be in control. They have to be tied together, they have to be intertwined in there, whatever goal that you're doing. So, without further ado, let's get after it. Okay, why is Brett having a hard day? Well, a couple reasons. Reason number one my wife is not here. She is in Vegas taking a test. And reason number two is the exact reason this podcast is being recorded.

Brett:

I was invited by my friend Braden, who is an absolute beast. He's a runner. I met him when I ran the Ragnar race with my company and he just showed up, he was a friend of one of the runners that we had my company and he just showed up he was a friend of one of the runners that we had and instantly this dude was speaking my language, shows up with the go one more hat, like all the things. He's just a beast and I've watched him over the years like grow in his running skills and, uh, it's been cool to watch. But anyways, he, he messaged me and he's like hey, my friend Dylan, for his 31st birthday, is running 31 miles and this run was at a park and it was a one-mile loop, so very, very monotonous, like that is. You can get pretty tired of a one-mile loop that you're going to have to run 31 times, but, being me, I was like that's exactly what I want to do, like everything sounds great there, the challenge of pushing myself, the grind, the distance, the suffering, all of that. That's what I love, because in those moments bonds are formed and you learn a lot about yourself. Bonds are formed and you learn a lot about yourself.

Brett:

And when I got to the, to the run this morning, uh, I woke up at 5am, got there, the race started. It wasn't a race. The run starts at six. And so I'm there and I meet this dude for the first time. Don't know him, his name's Dylan, dylan Hayes, um, or Dylan Mays. I met him today, so cut me some slack, but the guy's a beast.

Brett:

Like the fact that this guy wants to run 31 miles for his 31st birthday. Again, speak in my language. What's a better way to celebrate than doing something hard with your friends? Because at the end of that, you're going to be more than friends, you're going to be brothers in arms or sisters in arms. There were a couple girls there too, and when I show up it was rad. So they had a, a pop-up tent like one of those canopies. Underneath the canopy they had gels, they had fruit, they had electrolytes, water, um, sunscreen, chafing stuff, cause you do chafe at that distance and they had this whole thing set up and I was just like that is rad, like this dude set up this entire run, this 31 mile run for his friends to come out, for them to, to suffer with him and do something difficult altogether, again, speaking my language, and I wasn't mentally bought in.

Brett:

I noticed that the first, the first thing I did when I woke up is I noticed like this is different than other races I've prepped for or other runs that I've prepped for. Because, in my mind, this is where the ego comes into play and this is going to be a hard episode for me to record, because in my mind, I am someone who can show up and do a 50 K race. That's nothing right, or I like to think that it's nothing. That's very wrong. And so I showed up and I started running and it felt pretty good.

Brett:

Um, but around mile seven I've been having this issue with my quad, where it'll like, seize up and it'll get. It'll feel like it's dead weight and I'm I'm lugging this sandbag through through wet concrete. That's what it feels like and because of that, like my running form gets all messed up and it's all. It just causes a bunch of issues. And around mile seven that starts picking up and it feels like someone took a knife, jabbed it into my leg and just left it there and twisted it a couple of times. And so I'm fighting off this pain. I'm like, whatever it's just there, deal with it. And as I'm going around, I keep thinking, oh man, I got a marathon in two weeks. Like is this gonna happen on my marathon in two weeks? Like maybe I need to take it easy. And so I'm running. I'm like, whatever, get through mile eight. I'm like, yeah, still having those thoughts, I'm not gonna listen to it.

Brett:

But something happened, like mile nine. I kept thinking about the race that's coming up, the grandma's marathon that I'm running with Allie on the 21st, and for some reason my mind got the best of me and it was like, hey, you probably should take it easy, you should maybe just ease up a little bit. And so embarrassed to say this, but around mile 10 and a half, I, I, I stopped the run and he had a book there where people could come uh, write their name down and and how many miles they did. And I wrote brett rossel, 10 and a half miles. And then in parentheses I wrote a big DNF, did not finish. That was hard and it might not seem like something that's a big deal, or it might not seem like something that actually is hard. It's like, oh, brett's complaining he dropped out of a 31-mile race but still got 10.5 miles in.

Brett:

I know, I understand it sounds silly, but for me in my mind, I was going to run those races but I hadn't committed. I was going to run those miles, but I didn't commit to it. And that's the point of what we're talking about today, because if you remember me talking about the Vegas Marathon, I kind of had that same attitude show up, I was training my brother and my cousin at the time and I was running lots of miles. I ran a 50K earlier that year. So I was like feeling good about myself and my progression and I just thought I'd be able to show up and do it. And that wasn't the case either. I had an asthma attack and that scared me, so I dropped out.

Brett:

It's happened twice now where I think that I'm a better runner than I actually am and I go after these goals that are maybe a little bit too out there for me at the moment. And by all means, I know I can run a 50K race, but I wasn't bought in. I didn't believe that I was going to finish this run today. I thought I would just show up and get it done, and I hope that makes sense, because you can't. You can't have half a goal there. You can't have a body that works well and a mind that decides to quit, because you can be as strong as a lion, but if your mind isn't there, you might as well not even try and go after the goal because you're going to drop out, you're going to quit when it's when it starts to get hard. And that's the point that I missed.

Brett:

I didn't visualize, when things got hard, what I was going to do to to combat those feelings, to get through those moments where you know I, I start feeling some pain, I start doubting myself because guess what, on races that happens. You will feel pain. You might doubt yourself. If you've trained well enough and if your mind is bought in as well as it should be, maybe that won't happen to you the, the mental doubt piece, but I can guarantee you pain will come. Pain is something that is an old friend on a race, like when your legs start tapping out. You have some hard conversations with yourself and maybe with your legs you say, hey, kicking into gears stupid pieces of S, I'll, uh, censor myself there, but it was tough. Because, going back to the, the example and the story that I told, I want to be known as a runner that can do that, but I'm not there yet. I will get there, but it's going to take years and I feel like I am a decent runner. But there's always room for improvement and it's a goal that I'll always be chasing. And so, yes, today sucked. Today sucked that I'll always be chasing. And so, yes, today sucked. Today sucked that I had to stop running and I went to the gym and ran another six miles because I felt like crap. So total for today was 16 and a half miles, but I still feel crappy about that because I dropped out of today's run.

Brett:

Not as fun as a topic as I'd like it to be, but it is what it is and that's the point of why I'm sharing this, because I want you to see that on your own journey, there will be, there will be roadblocks. I talk about this all the time. How are you going to handle them when they show up? So I wrote this big, long journal entry today because I was just thinking about, like okay, well, what could I be doing? That's different. And here's what I wrote. I'll skip to the middle here. I said here's the truth. I keep circling around.

Brett:

Resilience is not just physical. I've built the engine, the legs are there, but if the mind isn't locked in, the body won't matter. The mind has to be the general, not the physical. I've built the engine, the legs are there, but if the mind isn't locked in, the body won't matter. The mind has to be the general, not the passenger. And I didn't have a plan for the war today. No visualization, no mental rehearsal, no clear decision made before we started.

Brett:

I showed up physically, but not mentally. I was hoping it'd work out. That's not enough, not for the distance, not for life. You can't halfway chase hard things and expect full rewards. A strong body is a half commitment. A strong mind makes it whole. I need to get better at preparing, at visualizing, at accepting that suffering isn't the enemy, it's part of the path. Long distances are not just about fitness, they're about fire, and the fire's lit in the mind. I've been acting like I'm already the guy who can do that, who can show up and run a 50k off instinct. But I'm not there yet, Not even close, and pretending I am is a fast track to stagnation.

Brett:

To become the one who rises, the one who endures, I need a mind that doesn't blink at pain, a mind that smiles at the storm and says you're exactly what I trained for, because comfort, comfort is a liar. It whispers, take it easy, but it leaves you restless, half lived and hollow. Here's the truth, and I wrote this to myself again. This is a. It's going to tell you a lot about me. Brett, you are made for more the runner. You are the runner who rose from the dead, rebuilt your own discipline and is now forging into the elite.

Brett:

Don't let comfort claim your crown. Don't trade potential for ease. You've got work to do and that's how I'm looking at this experience, not as a pity me moment, not as a I didn't hit the goal that I wanted to. As a time for reflection, as a time to sit down with myself and say where did I miss? And it's very clear that today I missed it in the mental capacity. Where your mind goes, your body will follow, but there is an illusion of readiness. Like I said, like I showed up physically, but mentally I was hoping it would work out. Like I said, that's not how you win, that's not how you do it. Michael Jordan he practiced hours and hours in the gym, but he also, in his spare time, I assume, was practicing the shots in his head, the moves on the court, what his opponents would do, how he would combat those moves and what he was going to do mentally in the game. That is crucial for anyone's success. Being mentally bought in means that you need to prepare your mindset with the same vigor that you prepare your body, for it separates the athlete from the amateur Today I showed up as an amateur. It separates the athlete from the amateur Today I showed up as an amateur Separates the doers from the dreamers.

Brett:

Marcus Aurelius wrote this quote that I've said many times. You have power over your mind, and not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength. The goal doesn't care how fit you are, it cares how focused you are. And focus isn't a feeling, it's a skill that we can hone in. So if your mind isn't leading the drive, it's not leading the initiative. Your body will break.

Brett:

People say that pain is the enemy. I would say that it's not. Confusion, is Doubt, is Hesitation, is. Your brain's job is to keep you safe. That's really what it's good at doing. It's to keep you safe. Still thinks we're running from tigers. But what we face today, the fears that we have, they're dressed up as discomfort and not necessarily death. And so, in my mind, yes, and not necessarily death. And so in my mind, yes, running a 50K won't kill me. But when I am running it, my mind says, hey, it might. It might take you off. It tells me to slow down, it tells me to quit. It's trying to protect me, but that safety is a lie.

Brett:

Comfort does not satisfy, like I said it. Like I said, it's a liar and it whispers for you to take it easy, but it leaves you restless, it leaves you half lived and it leaves you feeling hollow. Why do you think? I decided to go run six miles after I had this, this run this morning. It was rough and because I wanted to prove that maybe I could go and push myself a little further. And so that's what I did. And you know it's it. It did tell me hey, you, you still have more to give.

Brett:

And the whole time I was, I was running that six miles, I was like I wish I, just I wish I stayed. And that is, that is the exact path I never want to be on is living a life of regret. It's exactly how I feel today. I feel like I'm regretting, not pushing past that pain, because maybe, if I sat down for a little bit and gunned out my leg or whatever I could have done to ease up the pain and get my muscle feeling a little looser, maybe I could have done it In fact, I know I could have because I've done it before in much worse conditions but the brain stopped me today, and I hate to say that, but it is true. And it made me realize that resilience starts before the race, because you can't become resilient during.

Brett:

It's all built in the quiet hours before, either in your training or in the mental preparation Like we've been talking about with visualization, you know, playing out scenarios in your head. That's important. Your rehearsals and your self-talk that you play in your mind, uh, that's what you need to be focused on. And you need to ask yourself when the moment comes, have you already seen it in your mind? When the pain hits, have you already trained for that conversation with yourself? When your brain says stop, do you have a script of how you're going to respond to it? That's being mentally bought in. It's intentional, it's relentless, but it's very quietly powerful.

Brett:

Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret. And I'm facing the pain of regret, guys. It's not a good feeling, so don't do it, don't give up, don't quit. It's crappy, it's not fun. You don't want to live a life where you get to the end of it and you think of all the things you could have done differently that could have gotten you to the place that you wish you could have been. That's a life of regret, and so that's why I'm talking about.

Brett:

You have to be mentally bought and you have to believe that you can do these things and you have to believe that when, when challenges arise, that you're made for more and that you're able to push through them, because we all are, we all can push through, we all can endure. It's just training the brain to be able to do that. And that might look like, hey, if you're working out and you're struggling and you're doing cardio for 30 minutes, that's what's on the schedule and you can't wait for that 30 minute mark, but when it comes, maybe try and go an extra five and just see if you can push past it. That's having the conversation with discomfort in the moment, and that's all in the training. And you need to train for these times, because they will arise, where you doubt yourself, where you don't know if you can do the thing that you set out to do, and you need to be ready for those. Prime your mind, get ready for it. It's not about showing up and trying to be tough. It's about being trained. It really is. It's being trained to smile at that discomfort. It's being trained to keep going when that voice says to quit. It's being trained to lock in before the storm even begins. And, like I said, I'd like to be there. I want to be there and I think I have some work that needs to do.

Brett:

But as for you, try and become someone who doesn't necessarily beg for mercy, who is pushing past their own limitations that they thought they had for themselves and realize they're made for more. Show up prepared to the fight. Don't be surprised by the pain. Expect it, because it's going to come. Don't trade your potential for ease. That's a scary thing to do. We all can fall into that rather quickly. And so what can you do? Here's what I want you to do and sit down and think about whatever goals in front of you. These five points will help you at least make some kind of progress towards them. The first is visualize the pain before whatever next challenge arises. Rehearse it in your mind. Feel the pain ahead of time so it doesn't rattle you. If you can do that, you're already a step ahead of many people.

Brett:

Two is, I would say develop mental cues like write phrases you can repeat to yourself when suffering hits. And I was talking to my brother about this today, actually because he ran up in the mountains, um, and he was telling me about this big old hill that he had to run up. And I told him. When I'm training in the mountains, I always tell myself that the uphills are tough, but the downhills are my reward for it, because anytime you go up, guess what? You have to come down. That's a law we all have to abide by because of nature, and the same goes for in the mountains. Usually, when you get up to a hill, there will be a down piece. Sometimes that hill keeps going and going and going, but eventually you will be going down. All mountains have descending sides. So think about some phrases that you can tell yourself.

Brett:

Three, I would say, is crucial. And you need to train harder than you compete. You need to use your daily training as building your armor. Think about yourself as Iron man in the cave building the mask. You know that famous scene where he's hammering the mask. You're in the cave when you're training and you're building that armor so you can break free. That's Tony Stark and that's you. You guys have something in common, congratulations. So think about that Build. Build the armor and train harder than you can you do when you're competing, because if you train as hard as you can when you're like before the race, before whatever comes up, that's going to make it feel like it's easy on race day.

Brett:

Reflect on your failures. It's number four and that's what I'm doing today. That's why we have this podcast, this short little heavy hitter. But don't hide from the days that you gave in, because that's just going to real like it's. It's not going to allow you to learn from them. You need to study them, because those are the blueprints for growth, those areas that you think you may have lacked in over the past couple of weeks or whatever the timeline might be.

Brett:

Double down on them, say I know that this is something that I haven't been doing well at and see if you can push it. The last thing I would say is commit to it before you start, both your body and your mind. If it's a running goal, then that means you're running as much as you can. You're training strategically, not as much as you can. I take that back, but you're running a lot and your mind is being built and forged at the same time, through pushing past discomfort when it rubs your shoulders and it's trying to get you to stop. You have to push past it, but it starts with commitment. Decide that you will not quit.

Brett:

If you're going to pursue hard things, you have to be mentally bought in. You can't halfway chase hard goals and expect those full rewards. You can't do it. Can't halfway chase hard goals and expect those full rewards. You can't do it. You can't show up unprepared because preparation is great. Training is is is crucial. If, specifically for running, you have to train If you want to be successful in your race, there are people out there who will go and just you know, go after a marathon without training for it and they'll do it. But if you want to see your potential, if you want to see how great you can become, it's going to require training. And with that same physical training, learn what you can do to train your mind. Study yourself, see when the moments come up in your training where you want to quit and ask yourself why is that happening? Because if it is and if you can identify it, you're making leaps.

Brett:

And so this podcast isn't, this episode isn't meant to make anyone feel discouraged or nervous that challenges will come up. That's the nature of life. Challenges are always there. How are you going to respond when they come up? For me today, I gave in Clear as day and that sucked. That was a crappy feeling. Gave in clear as day and that sucked. That was a crappy feeling, and I'm taking today's lesson and I'm going to apply it to future ones so I don't have to feel this again.

Brett:

It's it's not a bad thing to have stumbling blocks if you can learn from them. So I hope this helps. I hope this gets you a little more amped up to to chase your goals and and to prepare for them. When things go wrong because they always do Ask yourself what you're going to do, to to show up for yourself and be better, because you owe it to yourself to do that. And if you know anyone that might be going through something similar, that might be struggling on their own journey, send this episode to them. If it helped you at all, it might help someone else. But, as always, I appreciate you guys for tuning in. You guys are great, you're the reason I do this and, as always, keep getting after it. Thanks, guys.