Running Changed My DNA
I’ve actually done research on this. 20 or so years of chronicling countless data points led to one emphatic conclusion … Running is 90% mindset. This was never more evident than my marathon training days. When I had an upcoming long run, 15+ miles, I would in a sense, program my brain the day/night before concerning the objective, i.e., which route, predicting the mile markers and what sustenance I would take along. The music was even coordinated with not only selection but also the pattern. A song with a long consistent rhythm often played on repeat allowing my mind to sink into the flow, my pace absorbing the tempo. During the 24-hours pre-run I visualized all of these details immersing myself in contemplation of the set-plan, almost like entering data into a computer … ruminating, pondering, reflecting. Every time, every single time, on these long run days I would breeze through until the last mile or two before becoming exhausted. But that’s not the interesting part. The most surprising aspect was that on a 3-mile short-run day, the exact same thing happened. Now, I had just run 15 miles a few days before and exhaustion hadn’t kicked in until that last mile or two. But on a 3-mile run I would get equally exhausted at the 2 1/2 mile mark.
This led me to examine, was the physical exhaustion of each run, in reality, the mental fulfillment of the limit previously set according to the data I had stored in my brain? The mind that told my body to run and keep running, to use it’s strength, was the same mind that gave my body the ok, the signal to give in to fatigue. The Mind Is Incredible. And the body, barring any serious impairment, will do Exactly as it is told to do … EXACTLY. This epiphany led to belief in possibilities. It led to removing self-imposed barriers. It Changed My DNA so to speak and spilled over to every aspect of my life.
Read more in The Run chapter in Soul Speak: Vol III or Soul Speak: The Full Story. Grab your copy on the Shop Page 🙂
P.S. Happy Birthday Mom! Thanks for the encouragement ❤️
0 Comments