Tayte Pollmann’s Tuesday Trail Tip – Overcoming Injuries With A Positive Mental Attitude

Tayte Pollmann’s Tuesday Trail Tips series of articles are supported by American Trail Running Association corporate member Nike Trail Running. As an 18 year old, Tayte finished 3rd at the 2015 USATF Trail Marathon Championships (pictured above) and won the 2017 52k Broken Arrow Skyrace.

I’ve been dealing with some chronic Achilles issues and this made it hard for me to run on some of my favorite steep and rocky trails last week in Salt Lake City. I find that when not being at 100% of my capabilities it’s easy to think, “I can’t enjoy the mountains because I’m hurting when I try to run up them.”

Tayte (left) at the 2015 World Mountain Running Championships

I try to overcome this negative mentality by focusing on what I can do, not what I can’t do. Instead of thinking how I can’t run, I think, “I can still hike in the mountains pain-free. I can notice more of the trail at a slower pace and even discover new trails. I can still train my aerobic system like crazy and put in a lot of hours of training on a bike or in the pool to prepare my body for when I can run.”

Overall, focusing on what I can do helps me enjoy the mountains even when my body is not 100%. It also helps me realize my training goals by adding diversity to my training.

– Tayte Pollmann, Nike Trail Running#TayteOnTrails

Tags: