Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012

Becoming mentally strong.  Yesterday, I wrote of how I oft turn to poetry.  I do so when I’m feeling happy, sad, on top of things or am seeking deeper meaning.  I believe this is a step towards taking control of myself in order to become mentally strong.  One of the other things I do to increase mental strength is to run. 

My youngest son is in cross-country.  His coach says that it’s important for runners to be mentally strong.  I agree.  Sheer strength is not enough.  Why?  Because, as any marathon runner will tell you, there comes a point when one pushes their body hard that the mind just sort of…gives up.  In that process, it sends all kinds of false messages such as that little leg twitch is really a ligament about to tear.  Or that the side pain you’re experiencing isn’t due to shallow breathing, an easily corrected problem, but rather something more sinister that will end with severe medical complications if you don’t stop running now.

Learning how to push one’s self beyond the point where their brain is giving them false messages as well as learning to run through the minor aches and pains that accompany running is one way of becoming mentally strong.  Why?  Because it takes deep determination to push through that kind of discomfort step after grueling step when all you really want to do is stop or slow to a walk.

Since I run marathons and have competed in obstacle courses, shorter runs and also mud runs, I’m told by people all the time that running “must just come easy for you.”  They go on to tell me how, for them, they can’t seem to get past the first half mile where everything hurts, their breathing seems to be off and their gait is awkward at best.  Smiling, I reveal every runner’s secret: that we experience the same discomfort during the first half mile of each and every run we do.  This is when I get astonished looks and comments along the lines of “we thought running must be easy for you cause you do it all the time.”

Revealing my runner’s secret helps others gain the courage to try again.  Push a little harder.  Challenge their minds to remain still and not complain so much while they put in their mileage.  In short, I help others do what I strive for each and every run—become more mentally strong.

Though running is one of my ways to gain mental strength, there are other ways.  Ironically, at least for me, I’ve found that in order to push past that mental barrier and grow in mental strength, I have to do the same with my physical body.  So the stronger I want to become mentally, the more physically strong I must become.  It seems the two go hand-in-hand.  After all, it takes grit and determination to become physically strong.  It doesn’t just…happen.  So why shouldn’t one gain the benefit of becoming mentally strong in the process?