Half marathon training, my plan was to run 16k/10 miles today, I did it but pushed on, to the half marathon distance, 21.1k (which was my max to date – before this morning), carried on…at 22k, a new experience, euphoria, a ‘high’, whilst running…23k…24k, I decided to make it 26k…I was running on autopilot, adrenalin…I made it!
I have found some of my 8k runs harder than this run today!
On the whole, when the goal for the day, the plan, is ‘just’ an 8k run, fatigue can set in at the 5 or 6k point – when the goal, the plan, is 16k, I usually get to 5 or 6k and feel no fatigue at all.
It’s about getting into the right frame of mind, fixing the focus….if we push the finishing line further down the road, that is where we focus…if the finishing line, the limit, is nearer to the starting point, our focus is on that nearer point and our physical/mental capacity, that day, will be that much less.
10% physical, 40% mental, 50% heart – the ‘push’, the drive, comes from the ‘heart’ – we get our mental strength from the fire that burns in our hearts!
Of course, the cardio/physical element is useful – mandatory, though this intensity isn’t necessary – but, arguably, the bigger benefit, for me, manifests itself in my mental wellbeing…
going from,
“I’ll do some exercise – anything but running!”
to where I am now has taught me (and I really felt it today) that there is a colossal chasm between where we are when we say,
“I can’t”
and where we can be when we say
“I can!”
…and that, in turn, motivates us to get out of our comfort zones – only then can we prove to ourselves what we really can do and that feeds into our state of mind, a new positive state of mind, which raises the level of our self-belief and self-confidence…
…and to the subject of depression:
I still have to take (as loads of people do) anti-depression and anti-panic attack meds but they don’t live my life for me, they ‘simply’ allow me to live my life which, without them, I wouldn’t be able to do – I guess you could say that our meds level the playing field but that the rest is up to ‘us’. The meds AND the running, they have BOTH got me to where I am now!
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