A Quick Training Tip: Just Smile

From a psychological standpoint, a smile (even a forced one) can counter the negative signals your body sends out to get you to stop. You don’t normally smile when something negative is happening to you.
The body’s natural response to negative stimuli (pain, danger, etc.) is to get the source to stop, but when you’re racing for position, stopping or slowing down just isn’t an option. Though it may only give you a small boost, the physical act of smiling has a positive association that the brain has formed over time. Though your body might disagree with the idea, a dumb smile can tell your brain that it’s not all that bad, that you can make it up that next climb—or over that next set of barriers.
When you think about it, laughing in the face of adversity or danger isn’t something new. Just keeping a positive attitude can help make any situation more bearable, and this tip keeps this concept at its core. In an extreme version of this concept, the military actually trains against torture and interrogation by encouraging soldiers to laugh it off (among other things, of course).
So the next time you find yourself struggling against yourself telling you to stop when you can’t afford to, just try smiling.