On a latest weekday, I headed out at 1 a.m. for a 65-mile journey run round New Zealand’s Lake Hawea. As I ran down abandoned Freeway 6, I thought of what I’d take heed to as I handed the early morning hours. Surprisingly, I settled on David Goggins’ guide “Can’t Damage Me.”
Whereas I had downloaded the guide greater than half a decade earlier, I had by no means listened to it. Varied clips of Goggins on social media urged I wouldn’t resonate with the brash machismo he makes use of on these platforms. Nevertheless, I loved spending 10 hours working with Goggins that day. Certainly, whereas he and I come at issues from seemingly totally different views, I believe we’d discover a lot overlap in our underlying approaches.
Getting underway with Goggins alongside Freeway 6. All pictures: Bryon Powell
Working example, the “cookie jar.” In Chapter 6 — Calloused Thoughts, Goggins discusses gathering and recognizing wins from all through our lives the place we’ve scored a private victory, massive or small. That may be finished by way of energetic evaluation of our pasts. We would discover cookies in overcoming household obstacles, bullying, a incapacity, or the like in our youngster. These cookies would possibly come from newer occasions in our lives the place we’ve achieved the promotion, labored by way of a tricky relationship subject, or overachieved in a race.
Why accumulate these cookies? So we will confer with them in future moments of issue. They’re a spark to refire our motivation and dedication when now we have self-doubts. When now we have these inevitable psychological stumbles, these cookies can put us again heading in the right direction. They break us out of any negativity spiral in our inside dialogues and the chemical responses they set off within the physique.
Lake Hawea by night time.
In the identical chapter, Goggins additionally addresses the thought of the calloused thoughts. With this idea, Goggins advocates for repeatedly exposing oneself to uncomfortable conditions in order that we develop into accustomed to being uncomfortable — in order that we callous our minds. Particularly, he means that bodily coaching provides a fertile subject for callousing the thoughts.
Now, right here’s the factor, I’m a wuss. Irrespective of how profitable callousing the thoughts is likely to be — and I feel it’s! — I’ve little want to look out distress purely for distress’s sake. I’m no sadomasochist. No, thanks!
The pinnacle of Lake Hawea within the early gentle of day.
That stated, as people and, significantly, as ultrarunners, we recurrently expose ourselves to loads of uncomfortable conditions. As such, I’ve been contemplating an idea that mixes the cookie jar and callousing the thoughts for a few years: gathering energy.
For instance, throughout my weeklong 237-mile San Juan InFINity Loop final summer time, I ran the ultimate seven miles on the third day in an absolute wrecker of a thunderstorm, even by San Juan Mountains requirements. I imply, the county shut down each roads northeast of city, and I used to be working on a type of very roads not figuring out of the closures, because of the climate’s results on them. I ran over a recent particles move that reshaped the Animas River under it. Lightning all over the place. Torrential rain. Bountiful hail. Yeah, it was one thing.
This stormy run and that week have been all part of my remaining coaching push for final 12 months’s Extremely Gobi. Simultaneous with my thoughts being blown by this storm being potential, I assumed to myself, Irrespective of how dangerous the circumstances are in Extremely Gobi, I’ll have been by way of manner worse on this storm. In Goggins’ parlance, I’d discovered a cookie, whereas on the similar time callousing my thoughts. I’d discover a number of extra cookies within the insane storms that had me balled up on the facet of a number of roads within the coming days.
A have a look at the homestead on Hunter Valley Station from throughout the lake.
This wasn’t the primary time I’d collected energy. In working the 2015 Extremely Gobi, my ft blistered to hell within the remaining 100 kilometers. Add to that plentiful sand and stretches of a horrendous substrate we’d earlier coined “camel crud.” Evidently, I used to be in agonizing ache at some point of the race. Nevertheless, I rationalized my manner by way of it, That is solely short-term. This isn’t an damage. This may harm whether or not you stroll or run. I used to be happy with this feat within the second, whereas additionally noting it for future use. I cultivated this reminiscence within the months main as much as the 2024 Extremely Gobi. If issues obtained actually robust on the upcoming race, I needed to have the ability to use that have as a backstop. I might overcome new discomfort as a result of I had overcome that prior ache.
In mulling over this idea now, I’ll file away my Achilles tendons rehabilitation within the gathering energy cupboard. Gosh, my easy rehab can actually harm. Particularly, once I return to it after any breaks or if my Achilles are aggravated from coaching. Even when I’d choose to not have to do that rehab, it definitely falls into the class of callousing the thoughts, and doing that rehab sufficient to tremendously enhance the state of my Achilles forward of final 12 months’s Extremely Gobi positive was a cookie I might suppose again on positively.
Nearing the homestead on Dingleburn Station.
Even throughout final 12 months’s Extremely Gobi, I collected loads of cookies alongside the way in which. Whereas I can’t say it’s inconceivable to run 250 miles whereas pondering of it as one integral size alongside the way in which, that’s definitely not how I run that form of distance! No, I’m both making an attempt to simply run alongside within the second or from checkpoint to checkpoint. Though seemingly inconsequential, a section run properly generally is a cookie. I simply ran from the final checkpoint to this one. Cookie. And I ran properly to that earlier checkpoint, too. One other cookie. And the identical for the section earlier than that. Name it two cookies, one for that part and for working three good sections in a row. These small wins reassure us that we will succeed on our solution to the subsequent checkpoint.
Now, let’s go accumulate some energy!
Name for Feedback
- What do you consider the ideas of callousing the thoughts, gathering cookies, and gathering energy?
- The place and when have you ever utilized a few of these ideas, even underneath totally different phrases?
Nearing the top of my lengthy lap round Lake Hawea, the place I’d collected a cookie or two for future use.
