Belief and Goggins (Mental Tools for Hard Things)
A few weeks ago, while browsing around the internet, I came across the question; “What do you believe that most people don’t?” Hmmm. I thought about it, and then made a list of things I believe. But each of those things were ideas I got from other people- podcasts, blog posts, books- rather than something unique that most people don’t believe. Ever since then I’ve been thinking about it- there must be SOMETHING! While getting ready for my race, I decided my answer- for now (I hope I can come up with something else as time goes by)- is that I believe I can complete a 50 mile race. Of course, I’m not the only one who believes this- people are running 50 miles, and much farther, all the time. But almost always, when I mention it to someone, the response it “How can you do that? I could never do that! I can’t even imagine running that far!” The truth is, most of us could do it. It’s just that most people don’t want to (and that’s completely understandable.) It’s not like I’m a gifted athlete. And it’s not like I have an invincible body. I’ve mentioned many times that after my daughter was born, I was plagued by one injury after another. But I’ve always wanted to run ultra marathons, and I believe I can do it, so I found a way to make it happen. Today in the gym I listened to this episode of the Huberman Lab podcast with David Goggins. I know a lot of people don’t like him, but if you need a pep talk or a kick in the pants, this episode is powerful. Huberman shared some scientific findings that show when you do something really hard, something that you don’t want to do, a part of your brain actually gets bigger. This part of the brain is associated with willpower, and ultimately the will to live. (This part of the conversation comes at 46:00 into the podcast, if you’re interested in things like this.) Goggins talks about how everything is hard for him. Running hurts, but he does it anyway. He says he’s not smart and grew up with ADHD, but he’s studying to be a paramedic right now, and learning the material is excruciatingly slow for him. But the whole point is that these things are hard. If he loved running, or if studying came easy, it wouldn’t create that friction he needs to grow. If you listen to this, you’ll realize that most of us are living pretty cushy lives. I know we all have our troubles, but overall we like to be comfortable. I remember last year when we were in Tampa, my husband and I had signed up for a 3K race. The forecast was showing a very cold- “Florida cold,” that is- morning, 40s and rainy. The night before, my husband said “Do we have to do it?” My son said “What would David Goggins say?” and it made me laugh. Let’s see.. this was a 3K race, which is less than two miles. Okay, 40 and rainy feels cold to Floridians, but it’s not really cold. When I’m running my race and things start to fall apart (which they inevitably will) I’ll ask myself “What would Goggins do?” He would probably laugh at the thought of quitting in a 50 mile race. He would also probably swear at me. And after he finished laughing and swearing, he would definitely tell me, in no uncertain terms, to keep going. Can you think of something you believe that most people don’t? Is there anything really hard you don’t want to do, but you do anyway? – (Does making dinner every day count???) Header photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash
Race Goals, and Phrase of the Year in Action
You guys… I’m so excited about my race. I mentioned in a previous post that it’s all I can think about, and the other day I found myself wishing that the race could just be TOMORROW. I’m ready! I don’t want to wait! Then I thought… do I really want to wish these two weeks away? EVERY DAY COUNTS. I took down my outdoor Christmas lights yesterday (finally!) and while I was doing it I had a flashback to the happy sense of anticipation I had while I was putting them up. When my kids were little and Christmas was a couple weeks away they would say “I wish Christmas were tomorrow!” I would always remind them that the buildup to Christmas is part of the fun, and we wouldn’t want to skip over it. This is an extra busy week- my daughter has MPA (Music Performance Assessment) with the high school jazz band, and also Solo and Ensemble, where she is playing a solo and two ensembles. Both these things require extra driving on my part, and will take up two entire evenings. At first I though, “Oh good! Being busy will make the week go by faster.” But… there will never be another week exactly like this one. My daughter will never be playing in these things as a freshman again, while I’m also getting ready for my first 50 mile race. I know at some point when the race is over things will seem flat and unexciting, and I’ll look back on this week as being extra-special. So I’m trying to lean into it and appreciate it while it’s happening… rather than only in retrospect. So what about those race goals? Well, “goals” may not be the right word. “Vague hopes” might be a better term. Some things, like the weather, are out of my control. I’ve never run 50 miles, and I’ve never run on this trail. So anything could happen! But I do have one hope, which is that I finish before dark. The race starts at 7 am, so finishing “before dark” would mean in about 12 hours. That seems reasonable- if my finish time is much longer than that, it probably means something went wrong. I would like for nothing big to go wrong, and I would also like to avoid being out on the trail in the dark. This race has a 100 mile and 50 mile option (I love that I’ll be running with the 100 milers! The first 50 miles is the same course for everyone.) Headlamps are required gear for both distances. I got a new headlamp- my little clip-on light won’t cut it on a dark trail- and I tested it out this morning. I hate it! But, I hate all headlamps. They either bounce, or if they’re tight enough not to bounce they irritate my forehead. If I were running the 100 mile distance I would have paid any amount of money to get a really great headlamp. As it is, I ordered one from Amazon that should be… fine. Especially since I’m hoping not to use it at all. So that’s my goal- to finish this race, uninjured, in the daylight. But I’ll take any finish. And if I have a DNF because of injury, I’ll take that too and chalk it up to a learning experience. I’m linking up with Jenn and Zenaida for their Tuesday Topics. Their actual topic for the week is “My Worst Running Habits” so if you want to read about that, check them out! Any headlamp suggestions for me? Are you looking forward to anything this month?
Weekly Rundown- The Hay is in the Barn!
Guess what? I’m officially in my taper!!! I had my last long run on Wednesday and now I just have to get through the next two weeks without doing anything stupid. I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Rundown. Let’s just see how the week went! Monday I started off this chilly week with a 4 mile run. It got down to the upper 40s every morning- I don’t think I’ve ever had so many photos of me running in a long sleeve shirt before! Followed this run with plank and dead bugs. Tuesday I got myself to the gym for the 12/3/30 treadmill workout- 12% incline, 3 mph, for 30 minutes. Followed by upper body and abs! Wednesday LAST LONG RUN before my race! It was a planned 20 mile run, and just for something different I decided to go to the trail I used to run on when I was training for my 50K last year. I wonder why I haven’t been running there lately? This trail is SANDY. I trained on it last year because my race had a lot of sand- but my race this year has NO sand (yay!) I forgot how hard it is to run on the sand! The trail is really beautiful though. Everything was going well until mile 15, when I felt my left achilles. Oh yes, it’s all coming back to me- long runs on this trail used to bother that achilles. I tried to stick to parts of the trail with less sand, but by 18 miles that achilles was yelling at me, so I called it. SIGH. It was such a bummer, because the weather was beautiful and everything else felt great. I had to remind myself that in the big scheme of things, it won’t matter that I ran 18 instead of 20 miles on this day, and it wasn’t worth it to end up with an injury. Thursday My achilles, along with many other body parts, was stiff and sore when I woke up, but I did my mobility routine and decided to try a run. I walked a mile- so far, so good- and then started running. My achilles said “NOPE!” I cut this run short after a mile. I was pretty sure the achilles was not injured, but just very angry. And I don’t blame it! Whose stupid idea was it to do a long run on a sandy trail??? I went home and doubled up on my core. Don’t be too impressed by that- my core work has been pretty minimal these days, so it was probably good to do a little more. Friday I contemplated doing strength at home, but decided to go to the gym, and I’m so glad I did. I did squats, deadlifts, overhead press with dumbbells, abs and low back. I felt like this workout was so good for me. I had some lingering soreness when I started, especially in my quads while doing squats, but it got better and better with each set. I’ve had this happen before- I have lingering soreness from a long run, but “heavy” lifting (the term is definitely relative) helps it dissipate. Anyone else have this experience? Saturday 4 mile run, and my achilles felt perfectly fine. PHEW! I was 99% sure that it was just irritated and not actually injured, but that 1% doubt was stressing me out. Actually this was my best run of the whole week! The weather was perfect and I felt great. Go figure. Sunday On tap for today- off! Sleeping in, waffles, taking down the outdoor Christmas lights… wait, WHAT? Yes, they’re still up. I’m not sure if this makes it any better, but at least I haven’t been turning them on. Today is finally the day! So that was the week, with a little drama thrown in for good measure. But that’s to be expected- there will be drama from now until my race on the 17th (last year I was convinced my foot was broken the week before my race,) Buckle up for a bumpy ride while I navigate this taper period! Sand running- yay or nay?- I can’t believe I ran a SANDY 50K last year- I must have been insane. Does anyone in your neighborhood still have their Christmas lights up?- There are a couple people in our area who not only have their lights up but are still turning them on- I see them when I’m out for an early morning run.
February Coffee Date
It’s February, the non-official start to 2024. If you struggled to implement your 2024 goals and plans last month, you’re not alone. January is hard- the beginning of the month still felt “holiday-ish” to me, and the second half of the month brought on my post-holiday depression. But now I’m finally ready to dive into the new year. First, of course, I’m joining Deborah and Coco for the Ultimate Coffee Date. I’ll be drinking my usual Earl Grey tea out of my new mug, which was a Secret Santa present from San! On the subject of January goals, let’s just see how I did. I wanted to read six books (I read five), do the Knees Over Toes exercises three times a week (I did it twice a week) and sleep seven hours a night (which I did some nights, but not all- I’m getting there!) Overall, I’ll call it a January win and re-set those goals for February. The next thing I would share over coffee is that we have had the most beautiful weather lately. Several nights in a row it got down to the 40s! And by that I mean, 48 or 49- that’s just about the coldest we get here. Overall our winter has been cooler than usual (thank you, El Nino) and I’m loving it. Maybe I don’t have to move, after all. The most important thing I would talk about over coffee is, IT IS RACE MONTH. Yes! My big race- the Forgotten Florida 50 Mile- is on February 17th. You’ll be hearing more about this, because it’s pretty much all I can think about. I’m nervous about the logistics- it’s been a long time since I’ve traveled for a race- and obviously nervous about completing the distance (I’ve never run 50 miles.) And I’m also really excited! More thoughts, feelings, and goals for this race will be coming up. Do you feel like you crushed your January goals? Or did you need time to ease into the new year? Do you have anything exciting coming up in February?