Category: Living Well

Today, I helped a student run her first 8k.

She had only ever run a mile before it.

Some of the things I told her throughout the run:

• “Slow down.” The instinct right from the start was to go at a 40 meter dash pace (aka: sprint). The adrenaline, the excitement, the anxiety always makes you want to go faster than the long distance pace should warrant. To go further; slow down.

• “Yes, you can.” Whenever you push into new territory of “hard,” your mind is going to tell you that you “can’t.” Mainly because it has never been there before and it isn’t used to the tired that this new “hard” is facilitating. But, we’re capable of much, much more than we think. And if we can change what we think we can do—we’ll very likely do exactly that. The mind will always give up before the body.

• “Do what works.“ I recommended a slow, steady pace throughout the run. But, it wasn’t working for her. She decided that short runs followed by short walks—interval style—was better. She’d do a little run. Walk until she couldn’t see me anymore, then run again to catch up. And it’s exactly that strategy that got her past the finish line.

The most important thing I said to her, though, was to be nothing but proud of how she performed. Because while it took longer than she wanted it to take, nothing is more important than the fact that she showed up and tried her best.

For my workout yesterday, I did heavy weight lifting with a leg focus.

Today, I did a kick-a-thon at my martial arts school where I did 1,600 kicks in one class.

Tomorrow, I plan on doing the YMCA’s annual 8k Turkey Trot fundraiser run.

The day after that, I plan on playing pickup games of football, maybe even basketball, with friends and co-workers. And right after that, I plan on participating in a door-to-door food drive where flyers are dropped off at a few hundred houses asking them to leave non-perishable food on their porch that can then be picked back up at a later time and donated to our local food bank.

…That’s four pretty intense leg days in a row.

Why?

During a normal workout week, I would never do this. I would spread out the love and give my muscles a full 48ish hours to recover from one workout while I exercised other muscle groups.

But, every now and again… it’s good to push yourself.

…To do things that aren’t exactly rational to see what you are capable of doing.

Not necessarily to train the body (as I mentioned above, this probably isn’t super great for my body), but to train the mind.

Because “hard” in life is only in relation to the hardest things you remember going through and doing before.

And what you might find on the other side of something really hard… is days and weeks and maybe even months of increased “ease.”

Because if you can do THAT… what’s this one measly workout / challenge in comparison?

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P.s. Happy Thanksgiving. Here’s a list of quotes and exercises to inspire gratitude and kindness :)