The Mind

“You think you can be a successful runner from a good family?’ It was not really a question. He had talked of his upbringing in Ethiopia: about the poverty that surrounded him, and about the violence meted out to him in his home. Haile’s counterintuitive analysis was that all world-beating runners spring from twisted roots. He believed that a deficit of opportunities, and an early taste of pain, had not stifled his talent but fertilized it.” -Ed Caesar – 2 Hours, The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon

There is a lot of talk in the running world about the barrier of the 2 hour marathon, today’s equivalent of breaking the 4 minute mile. But what seems to be more interesting, and more relevant through that quest is how athletes, especially successful ones train their minds. Haile Gebrselassie, mentioned above, is considered by many as one of the greatest runners of all time. His upbringing seemingly being able to not “stifle his talent, but fertilize it” is a theme that seems to run through many elite athlete performing at the top of their game.

Adversity.

And not just adversity, but how they view the struggle. How does the mind view and differentiate between pain and suffering? Answering the simple question for each of us holds a valuable tool to how we can not only begin to reach milestones in our training, but also in our daily routines.

How do you begin to view adversity? Pain? Suffering?

One in the same? Or are they different? Or perhaps they overlap like a Venn diagram.

Share your thoughts in the comments + let’s grow together.

The Size Run is curated by Alex Warren and Brent Francese, co-owner’s at Runologie.