Sunday, October 16, 2011

Down By Law




Newton formulated three laws of motion, and the first states (paraphrased and misquoted): that a body in motion tends to stay in motion, and a body at rest tends to stay at rest, unless acted upon by an external force.

For the first weekend since I can remember, I am at rest, having been in motion for the entire summer.

Over the past four months, I've been either running or training for 50 mile races (4 in 90 calendar days), with hiking, backpacking and kayak trips sprinkled in between.

Unlike physics, the forces exerting on me come from within.

Desire and Discipline.

Discipline is the opposing force on desire. The discipline to follow though on long term goals is very very hard in a world of instant gratification, and one where our desire can blind us to obstacles; a desire without planning, without reason is just a wish. Discipline is seen as inertia to desire in our hearts. But really discipline is patient when desire wants to act. Discipline is not inaction, but planned and deliberate action.

Discipline says now its time to STOP the motion, at least temporarily; REST. Let the body come to rest, and recover.

Down.

What I need right now, is to stay down; reflect on the past four 50 mile races. Look for the things I did right, the things I did wrong, the things where I let desire impede my progress.

Down.

Over the past four months I have ping ponged between over planning (which leads to inflexibility) and under planning (which leads to mistakes). For the Ozark 100, coming up in three weeks I need to get down with a plan.

Look for a detailed plan here soon.

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