Running Success and Adversity Can be Found Running Together
It is very rare that a long run goes entirely as planned
If that sounds like life, it is because most of the things you’ll encounter running you’ve already experienced throughout your life. Suppose you’ve learned how to overcome life’s adversities — in that case, overcoming adversity on the run won’t be nearly as difficult as most people think.
This “AHA” moment came for me during the 2020 JFK 50 Mile race. I had made it through the most challenging portion of the race on the Appalachian Trail just fine. I managed to descend the 1,000 feet of switchbacks at the end of the AT without breaking my neck.
Everything in the race was going just as I had planned. Until it wasn’t!
I stopped at the aid station to use the porta-potty, and as I opened the door, I didn’t notice there was a giant step down. My left foot bent at the ankle, and extreme pain shot up my leg. Stumbling into the restroom, I began wondering if my race was over. As I stepped out, it felt as though somebody was thrusting a dull knife into my ankle tendons.
I refilled my water bottles, grabbed some quick protein in the form of peanut butter sandwiches, and limped off. Adversity had come to visit, and I needed to decide whether to let her stay or ask her to leave.
After a couple of miles, I figured out if I kept my strides shorter and ran upright, relying on solid core muscles to keep me moving forward, I could manage a finish.
My mantra became, “pain is temporary, quitting is forever.” Every time I felt like I couldn’t tolerate the pain for the next 36 miles, I’d say it out loud to myself and whoever was in hearing range.
The moment I crossed the finish line, I knew adversity hadn’t won this round.
You won’t severely twist your ankle every time you go for a long run. However, a much higher percentage of the time, those runs won’t go quite as you planned in your mind sitting on the couch.
Tips for Overcoming Adversity and Reaching Your Goals
“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” James Dean
Overcoming adversity is a matter of endurance, but probably not the endurance you think. There are many articles on building athletic endurance. “7 Simple Steps to Build Endurance” is an Active.com article that can assist you on that journey.
The endurance you’re going to need to overcome adversity on a long run or throughout life’s adventures is not something that comes with simple steps.
Interestingly enough, James Dean may have been onto something when he said he couldn’t change the direction of the wind. Still, he could adjust his sails to reach his destination.
None of us can change the circumstances we face when we attempt bold things. However, there is something built deep within us that will give us the endurance to do great things.
Matt Fitzgerald compiled what it takes in his book, “How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind Over Muscle.” In this book, Coach Fitzgerald has race reports and interviews with some elites of endurance sports. These interviews trace what it takes to build the mental toughness needed to overcome adversity.
These are some critical tips taken from both personal experience and many studies on this subject. After a year of miserable ultra-running, where I DNF’d four out of six races I entered, I began to study mental toughness. I was in the best shape I’d ever been in my life, yet time after time, I could not break through and finish a long-distance event. Two hundred-mile races and two fifty-mile races almost brought me to my knees and caused me to quit running long and instead choose to just run short distances — ones I knew I could finish with ease.
The results I am seeing now, as a nearly sixty-year-old endurance athlete, astound me. I am setting personal bests in 50K and 50-mile distances. The only thing that has changed is what’s between my ears.
These are four things that have made the difference between the constant Did Not Finish behind my name and finishes that thrill me every time.
- Stop making excuses. Excuses are the lies we tell ourselves when we’re too afraid of the future. “The course was a sloppy mess.” “They didn’t mark the course clearly enough, so I missed a turn.” My all-time favorite to use was “turned my ankle, and that was it.” Whatever you allow to occupy your mind becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You may as well not show up because you’re defeated before you even start.
- Don’t take “no” for an answer, especially from yourself. I learned this lesson early in my sales career. Nos were just a matter of hearing enough of them to finally hear a “yes.” Endurance training holds much the same resilience. There are going to be crappy runs, and that doesn’t make you a crappy runner. Do not tell yourself, “no, I’m not going to do that again” after a tough run. If I had told myself I couldn’t do the distance, I would have never known the thrill of finishing a run I was beginning to think was impossible. Nobody would ever know I hadn’t done the distance. This is why I have not one, but two hundred-mile buckles now and am on my way to my third.
- Have the right mindset. Your thoughts frame the tragedies or the triumphs of life. Getting past adversity means you have to change your belief about your challenges. When you realize it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you respond that matters, you are able to adjust your sails.
- Have faith. You alone decide whether you are going to live in fear or faith. Living in fear means you live within the walls you build yourself. Living in faith means embracing change and allowing it to give you the energy to overcome whatever you are facing. Faith and fear can’t live together, and you alone decide which one will have dominance.
The Takeaway
Nobody can decide whether you will build the mental toughness you’ll need to overcome adversities, whether on a run or running this race called life. Life will not always go your way, but when you learn from the experience and don’t limit yourself to living an ordinary life, great things will come your way.
Overcoming adversity is the secret that grows champions. Jim Walmsley and Courtney Dauwalter may be world champion endurance runners, but they weren’t born that way. They work diligently at their craft, and as hard as they train physically, it is the mental training they put in that puts them at the top of their sports.
The fantastic thing is that you have the same ability to overcome adversity and do great things. The only thing stopping you from living an ultra life is yourself.