Discomfort: A skill for running and life.

“Many runners don’t realize that the ability to push during a race is actually a skill. Like all skills, some athletes are born with an inherent ability to push themselves, while others need to work on it more in training.” From Teaching Yourself How To Race by Jeff Gaudette:

WHAT?!

[Insert the sound of my brain exploding with revelation.]

A few years in to running, I questioned myself. I had started enjoying, yes…actually enjoying, the process of learning how to “push through the pain” during a long run. Am I becoming a masochist?

It sounds a little odd, but it’s true. I enjoyed it because it meant that I’d become a good enough to runner to start to learn these lessons. I’d dropped my walk breaks and my “pushing skills” were starting to develop.

I was not born with a strong inherent ability to push myself. At least not in physical pursuits. Academics, music, sure; I could study or practice for hours until I felt I had it just right. By contrast, in the sports I tried as a kid (ice skating, gymnastics, karate) I never pushed myself to be the best I could be. Physical training was tiring, sweaty and uncomfortable. I didn’t want to be uncomfortable. Does anyone want to be uncomfortable? Ever? Didn’t think so.

Afraid To Improve

When I started walk/jogging, I was reluctant to say, or admit, that I wanted to be the best runner I could be. I was afraid I’d fail, sure. More than that, though, I was afraid of the long road of discomfort between where I was and where I could be.

About 3 years in (yes, 3 years of running with walk intervals) I decided to go for it. I pushed myself more and more and saw results for the effort I put in. I talked to more experienced runners and benefitted greatly from that. I was learning to push myself.

Around that time, I read the article quoted above and many things Gaudette said really blew my mind; specifically his clear and obvious statement that running is you versus yourself. You can’t be deterred by discomfort.

It’s so obvious, right? The ability to push through the pain is a skill that you can develop. Sure, great runners will have that coded into the DNA of every fast-twitch muscle fiber of their being, but for us ‘mortals’ who want to be our best, there is real and possible hope for improvement.

These ideas are nothing new, but sometimes it takes the right person or the right wording to crack through my lack of self-confidence and hold a mirror up to my possibilities.

Growing Pains In Life

It is well known that running brings us many life lessons, and one of the greatest for me has been embracing discomfort, embracing growing pains. Just like admitting that I wanted to be a better runner took some courage, so does admitting that I want to have a better life, be a better person, a better coach, etc. There is always room to grow and improve.

Therefore I have to embrace the discomfort of constructive criticism, I have to be willing to change my attitudes and behaviors. In order to have the life I want I may have to change my career or move. I may have to take calculated risks.

If you’re like me, you find it supremely uncomfortable to live with uncertainty or the unknown. However, if the end result is worth it, whether that’s being the best runner I can be or discovering a truly fulfilling life, I should “train myself” to take a chance. I should develop the skill of dreaming a little bigger.

Less than a month after completing my first 50k, I quit my marketing job. What I’d learned about myself through training for a 30+ mile race gave me the courage to leave a stressful but comfortable job and face the unknown. That decision led me to a new state and a first home and many other crazy wonderful things I’d never have if I had stayed in my comfort zone.

So when people ask me why I run, I say: I run to stay comfortable with being uncomfortable.

This post is adapted with permission from the original found at Thoroughly Thriving.