I woke earlier than usual this morning. I could hear the gale flexing its muscle outside. #StormDoris was not in a very good mood. I hadn’t planned on doing anything physical this morning as I have a couple of things on and was planning to get out later in the day. So I went back to the land of nod. Now I’m doing those couple of things and the sadistic side has started to raise its head. As the weather forecast, I’m beginning to hope that Doris will stay around for dinner, not enjoy her meal, give no tip and get p!ssed off with me when I finally get out for my run later.

Face the Gale head on…

For me, personally, I’m happy with this…at this stage*. Ill be glad to pick up the cheque for this bad meal. It says to me that I’m beginning to get my competitive edge back. As I begin to get older, after my winter breaks, the drive and determination to reach the levels I want to get to, are just as hard as the fitness levels I want to achieve, if not harder. I have always held the mantra, that if you get in the right mindset, the rest will fall into place.

Now I said “at this stage”. Next time I am awoken by Doris’s angy sister Etna, I will not get back into bed. I will get up, put on my gear and hit the hills. “Why? If you have already scheduled a run for later that evening”, you might say. This is why. There is an undervalued benefit from putting yourself outside your comfort zone, into irrational situations that can’t be quantified or measured. You look at all the great athletes that we see. What do they do to be glorified as “The Greats”. This is called going the extra mile. A term bandied around for as long as i live. You can guarantee they have already been out and done their run in the lashings of rain. The push themselves that extra. They are willing to make the sacrifices needed to separate them from others. Besides from the physical benefits, they are growing their mental strength. They want it that little bit more than the guy who wants to wait till later on so it fits into his schedule i.e. me…currently.

And after a while, the wind, the rain, the sh!t weather becomes nothing. It’s too cold, you put on an extra layer, you adapt without thinking about it, you get on with it, you achieve! Meeting and beating your goals will become a habit. And not just in training but life. You will bring that mindset into everything without thinking about it. You will look at this differently. Braver, less afraid by the prospect of meeting a new client, trying to close that sales deal, passing those exams…

One Upmanship

There is also the sense of one upmanship. I run/compete with friends in multi-sport races. We are a competitive bunch. We carefully update #runkeeper with our workouts and their is a silent victory there knowing that come the end of the month you have topped the table in workouts, distances, speeds achieved. Although we will not admit it, we all want to be top. So getting out and running when there is a good chance, the others wont, is also another feather in the cap.

And Now the Best Part

It’s beautiful weather outside, your out meeting up for a training session with your friends, and you know what, you are now physically fitter than they are and more importantly, that bit stronger mentally. You have the edge over them. You are putting distance between you and them. They went back to bed, you didn’t!

So face that gale head on, accept that challenge and achieve!

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