Sunday, September 9, 2018

“It’s not about how you feel, it’s how you feel about how you feel.”

“It’s not about how you feel, it’s how you feel about how you feel.”

I heard this saying in a podcast I was listening to within the past year, and I can honestly say that it really intrigued me from the first time I heard it. I scrolled back and listened to it several times actually. It stuck in my head, very much so in fact.

The saying was in reference to endurance sports but in thinking about the meaning I realized it applies so much so in life as well.

On the surface it sounds confusing, but in reality upon analyzing it, it makes all the sense in the world. The premise is simply you choose your own destiny.

In endurance sports you will most likely get to a point where things are not only physical, but also mental. Fatigue, GI distress, aching muscles, a sore this or that—surely if you’ve run long distances you’ve encountered one, if not several, of these items. These items are how you feel—the first part of the saying. If you want to push onward though, how do you respond to these issues? Do you ignore the issue, do you adapt and change something to address things, or do you simply give up? That is the second part of the saying—how do you FEEL (respond) about how you feel (what you are experiencing?)

Now does the saying make sense?

Endurance running is definitely about the physical, whether it’s 26.2 miles, 50K, 50 miles, 100K or 100 miles, there’s no doubting you have to be in good physical shape to cover such long distances.

It is those aforementioned issues though… or more specifically how you respond to them that largely impacts how successful you are and whether you meet your goals.

I have experienced this for sure. As of one week prior to this posting, I competed in my latest ultramarathon, the Labor Pain 12 Hour Endurance Trail Run. It was a very humid day and once the sun came out midday the temperature rose too. The course was a muddy mess at two spots that required running through 2-4 inches of wet slop. Granted it could have been a lot worse than this but it made the day more difficult.

My main goal was to complete more miles than I ever had before. My previous best was 50 miles the past two years, so this year would have required doing 55 miles, as the course is a 5 mile loop course. I really was shooting for 60 miles—and in a perfect world 62 miles to hit 100K, but 55 miles was my first goal.

I was fine the first 25 miles or so despite having gone out too fast on the first lap (and after reviewing splits my second lap too) but I slowly was not feeling as good as the early miles. It was not so much sore muscles or tightness or anything like that, but instead mental boredom. I began to feel like the second twenty miles was much more monotonous than the first twenty. My mind started to wander, all that came to me was how many more times I have to run through that slop, slog up the ensuing hill, and weave through the meandering turns after the aid station. It felt like a chore. Like boredom. Somewhat of a punishment almost.

The thoughts were turning negative. Fatigue starting compounding the thoughts. Then add in that dose of heat and humidity with some scorching sun. I wanted to quit basically.

But there was still a part of me that remembered—you came here to do this. You wanted to push yourself and see if you could run past 50 miles. You wanted to use this distance event as a primer of sorts to see if you wanted to tackle even longer races.

My watch showed me that I had plenty of time. I was ticking off 5 mile loops in just around one hour every loop. Despite conditions, you were executing your game plan and achieving things so far.

This is where the mental aspect comes in. I could have chose to quit or slow down since it was hot and I was tired but I chose to press onward. And that’s again what I mean by “it’s how you feel about how you feel.” It really is how do you respond to what you are experiencing! Are you comfortable with being uncomfortable? Or does be uncomfortable make you feel uneasy and unsure of yourself?

You don’t have to be in a race to experience this. I’m sure life has dealt you these cards at least once in life.

Regarding the running, I had trained on hills since I knew I’d be facing a prolonged incline every hour or so depending how fast I ran. I had even specifically ran in the heat of the day to get used to running when it was really hot and knowing how I would respond and learning how much and how often to drink.

To quit early in the race when I was feeling down would have meant that training was a waste. I didn’t want to do that. I knew I could pull through it. I knew the discomfort was temporary, but the accomplishment would be permanent!

I pressed onward and made it to 55 miles. I met my goal of setting a new distance record despite some adverse conditions. While it was definitely challenging I’m glad I was able to see my goal I had in mind and fight through the fatigue and boredom.

What I didn’t fight through was the risk of injury. I had my left hip adductor muscles sporadically cramp on me during the 10th and 11th laps and I did bow out before the clock ran out on me. The race official said I still was able to go out for another lap if I wanted to. I had thought about this during the 11th lap but I didn’t feel like the risk of  continued cramping and possible injury was a smart move. I called it quits at 55 miles. I have another ultramarathon coming up I want to do and did not want to risk not being able to do it at all just to get in 5 more miles at this race. It was a tough decision but I feel for the long term it was the right one.

I hope that if you desire to push your limits you start practicing a positive mindset. Realize what you are feeling and use past experience to learn how to get through a tough time. Learn to train your mental game. Endurance running is not just physical! Remember, It’s not about how you feel, it’s how you FEEL about how you feel!