This blog I first wrote for my Mission 231 Heart Foundation Fundraising page nearly 12 months ago. I recently reread it and thought it was worth sharing again and perhaps to a wider audience.
Persistence is something we all need. And not just on our fitness and health journeys but in life as well. I hope you can take something from this blog.
Persistence 08/07/21 ❤
Things don't always go to plan, even in running. Sometimes, especially in running.
But it is how we respond to those curveballs that are thrown our way or the obstacles we have to navigate on our journey that ultimately determine the outcome.
It comes down to persistence - how much we are willing to push through, to endure, despite the circumstances before we give up.
I'm fast learning in Ultra Running, you need a high level of persistence to not just have a chance at succeeding at your goals but just to get through a training run.
In the last 2 weeks alone, I've had 3 training sessions where it would have been easy to throw my hands in the air and say "I'm done, it's just not my day".
But I didn't. I persisted.
Training 1: I'm out on the trails for a 90min run. In the first 30 minutes, I had an eye to eye confrontation with 2 Kangaroos that made the Hulk look small; a stare off with a ready to charge wombat; then a fall in the mud whilst trying to avoid a mud hole. (Yes, I ended up in the said mud hole anyway).
Training 2: This time out for a 75min trail run at lunch. 10 minutes in and the body is not feeling it. Everything is heavy and did I mention hungry? My mind wasn't even in the game and I even paused in front of a fallen branch at hip height to try and muster the energy to bend to get under it. Then nearing the end I stepped onto a fallen log across the path to have it give way and crash onto my left shoulder.
Training 3: 2 days after my Training 2 mishaps. I've headed out for a 5hr Long Run. I have a crook stomach 40 minutes and have another 25 minutes before there's a toilet. I make it.
10 minutes later I'm replicating the speed skaters ahead of Steve Bradbury in his race for gold. Except my ice was mud. I went up and came crushing down. Yep, on that left shoulder. And ribs. And hip. And wrist. Boy it hurt! I'm 90 minutes in. I have 3.5hrs to go. Surely I'm in my right to stop? Call it a day.
No. I persisted. Why?
Because it's not about me. It's about the Mission. Mission 231. It's about the Heart Foundation. It's about the cause.
The reason for continuing were greater than the reasons for stopping.
If I'm going to succeed at running 231km on the Larapinta Trail for the Heart Foundation, I've got to get use to falling and picking myself up and persisting. I'm going to be fatigued. There are lots of rocks. Lots. I've got to run on those rocks through the night. Twice. There are going to be trips. It's a given.
I need to be persistent. A lot.
But it is certainly so much easier to persist when it's for a cause. Something close to your heart. And that's what I have with my Running With Heart Mission 231.
Yes the trips are are given. But so is my persistence!