How To: Winning Up Hill Battles

Every step on the first half of a run is one step further away from your destination. Your mind can’t un-know this. Personally, I find that on long runs, the run back is far more easy than the run out. There’s more pep in my step and optimism in my mind knowing each step is one closer to home on the way back. Doing ‘Murph’ yesterday is the perfect example of this. During my last run, though the run after the turn around felt easier, the trip out seems dismal and full of pain. It felt like an uphill battle

Uphill battles like these are a challenge, in part, because our circumstances seem bleak. 

Life has a funny way of showing us who’s boss, doesn’t it? When you’ve got a mountain of paper work before you or too many kids and too many errands to begin to manage, it’s difficult to have a clear head. Your reality is bleak.

Today’s workout may seem that way as well. With each round, the barbell will get heavier. It’s an intentional “up hill battle.” I find that in order to cut down the pessimism of these scenarios you’ve got to hit them where it counts.

Quit the forethought.

Running is hardest when you’re thinking about how much further you’ve got to go. Doing paper work isn’t really hard in the moment, it’s just extra hard because you know you’ve got a hundred sheets to do.

Focusing on the task at hand is a way to beat the system. Sure, it’s plenty troublesome to clean a barbell quickly when you know it’s only going to get harder. However, it’s not so bad if you get your mind off the future and just clean the damn barbell, now is it?

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach