My legs know what to do

I have to say that the body is an amazing thing!  I continue to be surprised with what it is able to do, I have only to tell it to do so.  I’m beginning to understand how most of the battles we have in endurance sports occur between our ears.

I saw something on the Internet recently, I don’t remember the exact quote but it went something like “Your legs know what to do, it’s your mind you have to convince.” 

If you race triathlons, at some point you will find yourself at an intersection.  The road to the left is an uphill run, against the wind, sunny and not the road you will want to take.    The road to the right is easier:  walk.  In between the two is a rest stop, where you can stop, put your feet up, get a drink, and start resting; an oasis away from your pain.  Which road will you take?

Of course this is a figurative intersection, but if you do triathlons long enough you will get there, trust me!

I wish I could say I always too the road on the left, but alas I cannot.  Several times I’ve taken the road on the right, and at least once I’ve stopped at the rest stop.  Afterwards I’ll briefly berate myself for taking the road on the right, but it is the rest stop that stays with me for a LONG time.

Obviously I don’t have a magic solution for always taking the road to the left.  If I did I would use it!  What can say is train like you want to race.  If you come to that intersection during training, don’t waste the opportunity to force yourself to take the correct path.

I had one of those yesterday.  When I got up my legs were dead, and I had a 10 mile run on tap.  The first battle was just getting dressed and out on the road.  I’ve found that getting to the starting line is half the battle, and if I can just get started…

Of course once I started I knew how dead my legs were.  I might as well have had sand bags attached to my feet.  My pace was slow and lumbering, but I kept going.  Within half a mile I’d lost the sand bags and was on cruise control.  I didn’t think I could do my 5K pace, but with 10 miles on tap it wasn’t necessary.

It was amazing to me that my legs responded and did what I asked them to.  In fact, I had no problem putting in a couple of faster miles towards the end.

In the grand scheme of things this was just another training day, but it is mental fuel I can use next time I get to that intersection.  I’m not sure when next I will come to that intersection, but when I do I hope that I will remember that my legs know what to do!

Oh yea, and my legs are even more tired today!