When we first begin
learning a new sport, new job, new skill, we feel and imagine that we look as
if we’re attempting to juggle greased up cats while wearing a blindfold and
standing one footed over a moat filled with flesh eating piranhas, right? Every single movement, thought, motion,
decision forces us to use all of our power to accomplish something that someone
else is making look so easy, so effortless.
The effort seems overwhelming and the successes seem so small from our
point of view.
I remember when
running a single mile or riding 10 miles felt like I’d accomplished “the
impossible”. I remember how slow I plodded
on the track and all the “fast” people who passed me. I remember the humming of my mountain bike
tires on the asphalt trails and the riders in team kits whizzing by at speeds
only a car could travel. I remember the
pure exhaustion at the end of a session.
Now, it takes me a
good three miles of running to get my body and mind aligned. I work out the kinks, silence the negative
voices, and become the runner I want and need to be. Some days, it takes 5 miles on my bike before
my shorts have settled into the right place, before the leather of my gloves
warms to the temperature of my hands, and before I can decide how far and how hard
I want to work.
Upon arrival in my place, the work seems effort less because I’ve trained my body and my brain to perform the actions, execute the motions, and navigate the path. I feel beyond my body, beyond my brain. I think this is what flying feels like. All in a single breath, I feel and don’t feel my body. I feel the repetition of my cadence, I feel the pumping of my heart and lungs, and I feel whole, my body, my mind, and my spirit are in unison.
It takes practice
to arrive here. We receive small
glimpses of this desired feeling each time we train. The key is to identify it, remember it, and
desire it. I can’t force it, I must let
it happen. With time, we find it
quicker, enjoy it longer, and accomplish those “impossible” distances.
I’ve been running
for 13 years, biking for 12 years, and swimming for 4 years. Every session, I tell myself to trust my
legs, ignore my negative thoughts; your lungs are so over engineered let them
operate how they know best; and finish the distance/goal you set out to
accomplish. This keeps me moving forward
in the right direction for my body, mind, and spirit.
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor
touched…but
are felt by the heart.” – Helen Keller
