Angry Willy wrote:
I never really had a catchy phrase that helped me. When I was running well, I was running well, and when I was running like crap, no catchy mantra was going to save my bacon or make a bit of difference. It was usually best for me to focus on the race and not reciting BS phrases.
The "focus on the race" cliche (headcase BS, paying attention to the wrong things) is exactly why you failed to achieve your best performance.