How endurance athletes are using the power of the now

the first 30 k is easy but 100 k is a long way.

Can’t say you’re almost finished, you’re still far from the end,

and yet you feel tired, you’re already drained.

You might think “I’m going to stop, I’m done, I don’t want to do this anymore,”

“It’s ok if I quit, it’s not like I’m going to get sacked from my job,”

“My family is not going to love me any less, it’s not like anything will change,”

“I’ll wake up the next day and be sore whether I ran 100 or 50 k.”

Υou’re about to quit but then your family shows up and gives you an emotional boost,

you’re joined by a friend you can talk to who knows exactly what you’re going through.

But at some point both friends and family are gone and there is no one there,

that’s when you need to get going again, that’s when you rely on your mindset.

it takes mental training to achieve running that distance.

You don’t think ahead or think behind,

you think about what you’re doing, you focus on doing it right.

You concentrate, you forget everything else,

you run or walk as hard as you can with every single step.

You stay in the moment, that’s all you need to do :

you stop thinking about where you are or where you are going to.

You just count your footsteps : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 …

Just the numbers, nothing else, no other thoughts in your mind.

Your philosophy simply comes down to that :

you just have to let go, you have to immerse in the now.

So you take that next step and then one more,

you don’t think about the 25 k you’ve still got to go.

Just one step at a time and at some point you’ll be done,

one step and soon enough you’ll be crossing the finish line.

you do this for endurance sports but also for life in general.

It is hard but you use your mind to get through it,

you just stay present, you go out there and enjoy it.

You don’t improvise, you’ve prepared,

you haven’t just learnt what to eat, what to wear, how to pace.

You’ve learnt that 1 k at the beginning does not feel the same as 1 k at the end,

that if you don’t think about what you’re doing, you won’t do it as well.

You’ve learnt that the future doesn’t exist, nor does the past,

that the body is actually nothing without the mind.

That the now is the only thing that really exists,

that if you’re not living in the now, you are not really living.

by : antιdrastιc element

inspired by : Ned Phillips

(founder and CEO of Bambu, ultra runner)

based on : Ned Phillips’ Ted talk

photo credιt : fixedincomeapac.wbresearch.com

ιmαge credιt : shutterstock.com