Places between. Being firm in my belief that the attitude one brings to practice, be it meditation or indoor cycling, holds more potential value than the technique one employs, indicates (yet) another opportunity for introspective analysis. For somewhere between the commitment we have made to our good health and fitness, and the point where we are satisfied with it, rests the golden opportunity of where we are night this very moment. The space between the start and some representation of the destination known as the finish.
If we stop for a moment and consider what that means in real terms it makes more sense. Let’s say, risking once again a sermon to the choir, that you are at the start of a marathon. There are hundreds, sometimes thousands, of like minded free spirits surrounding you as you make your final mental preparations. “OK, this is it, today we WILL break three hours. Just relax, drink early and often, use your gels, forefoot strike, relax shoulders, and enjoy the journey.” All good, but in the reality of it, your epic path towards the fulfillment of your racing dreams is nothing more than a series of steps in their general direction. Towards the glowing light of the finish line. Small baby steps or looping long striding foot-strikes, means one-after-the-other. The space between is 26.2 miles. THAT is where you succeed or fail.
Same with bike racing, triathlon, college football or the relentless pursuit of the dream of your soul. Those tiny microcosmic parts will eventually create the whole, your body of work for the race, the day, the event or the lifetime. Every one counts and every one matters.
The attitude you bring with you and carry as a torch, has the potential to make or destroy all that effort. To be successful in this one must first recognize the reality of its presence. It has been said that work, erg units, wattage, challenge and events will be there regardless of your emotion. You can struggle or you can sing, you can enjoy the journey or you can resist the reality, either way the polar extremes remain steadfastly in place. There is a start and there is a finish. What happens between them is totally up to you.
In classic knee-jerk fashion I once saw defeat, setbacks, the absence of success, loss, as failure. But it isn’t. IF (the big I-word again) IF we understand that our true growth; athletic, emotional, spiritual, is in over-coming these seeming setbacks as part of the process, learning from them and adding their lessons to the sums of our experience and evolution, the path, the space between, the effort and the attitude, all become the goal itself. About the journey.
If you have run a good race, if you have put forth right effort, if you have taken one single step closer to the improvement of your mind-body connection, that is victory. That is the path. That is the goal. In the doing and through the learning.
Appreciate and respect the places we travel between the extremes. Take the time to breathe the opportunity and smell the roses. Add some glow to your game. Flow with it. Relax. Smile.
This breath is that. Just one of many between your birth and death. It was once a running shoe manufacturers catch-phrase to “Run Happy”. I always liked that. I will add another today.
Run Grateful.
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