A few hours removed from running for 24 hours and there is a lot to think about. Was it hard to run around a track again and again and again? What kind of strategy changes could be made for eating, drinking, and pacing? What could have been done differently? How did the struggle play put? What does a runner think of hour after hour running around a track? And when doing the post-mortem, the question that bubbles up more than others is about the struggle. The struggle, is there, all the time as each of these events pushes us beyond our normal comfort zone. For as much as we can expect the struggle to be there, it still challenges us for how we feel and what we are to about it. Avoiding the struggle is fruitless, what we have to do is to accept it and all of the collateral effects that comes from the struggle (i.e. wanting to quit). While thinking about it won’t make it easier, nor will it eliminate the struggle the thinking is beneficial as it not only a learning experience it is part of the human condition – let’s embrace it, and from so doing, grow each time we find the struggle.

Loving life when I embrace the struggle

joe