On a current 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 Harm Me.”
Whereas I had downloaded the guide greater than half a decade earlier, I had by no means listened to it. Numerous clips of Goggins on social media urged I wouldn’t resonate with the brash machismo he makes use of on these platforms. Nonetheless, I loved spending 10 hours operating with Goggins that day. Certainly, whereas he and I come at issues from seemingly totally different views, I think we’d discover a lot overlap in our underlying approaches.
Getting underway with Goggins alongside Freeway 6. All pictures: Bryon Powell
Living proof, the “cookie jar.” In Chapter 6 — Calloused Thoughts, Goggins discusses accumulating and recognizing wins from all through our lives the place we’ve scored a private victory, huge or small. That may be completed via energetic evaluation of our pasts. We’d discover cookies in overcoming household obstacles, bullying, a incapacity, or the like in our youngster. These cookies would possibly come from newer instances in our lives the place we’ve achieved the promotion, labored via a tricky relationship subject, or overachieved in a race.
Why gather these cookies? So we are able to check with them in future moments of issue. They’re a spark to refire our motivation and dedication when we’ve got self-doubts. When we’ve got 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 evening.
In the identical chapter, Goggins additionally addresses the concept of the calloused thoughts. With this idea, Goggins advocates for repeatedly exposing oneself to uncomfortable conditions in order that we change into accustomed to being uncomfortable — in order that we callous our minds. Particularly, he means that bodily coaching presents a fertile discipline for callousing the thoughts.
Now, right here’s the factor, I’m a wuss. Regardless of how profitable callousing the thoughts could be — and I believe it’s! — I’ve little want to go looking 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, notably, as ultrarunners, we frequently 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: accumulating energy.
For instance, throughout my weeklong 237-mile San Juan InFINity Loop final summer season, 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 operating on a type of very roads not realizing of the closures, as a result of climate’s results on them. I ran over a contemporary particles circulate that reshaped the Animas River under it. Lightning in all places. Torrential rain. Bountiful hail. Yeah, it was one thing.
This stormy run and that week have been all part of my ultimate coaching push for final 12 months’s Extremely Gobi. Simultaneous with my thoughts being blown by this storm being attainable, I believed to myself, Regardless of how unhealthy the situations are in Extremely Gobi, I’ll have been via approach worse on this storm. In Goggins’ parlance, I’d discovered a cookie, whereas on the similar time callousing my thoughts. I’d discover a couple of extra cookies within the insane storms that had me balled up on the aspect 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 operating the 2015 Extremely Gobi, my ft blistered to hell within the ultimate 100 kilometers. Add to that plentiful sand and stretches of a horrendous substrate we’d earlier coined “camel crud.” For sure, I used to be in agonizing ache at some point of the race. Nonetheless, I rationalized my approach via it, That is solely momentary. This isn’t an damage. It will harm whether or not you stroll or run. I used to be pleased 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 may 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 accumulating 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 desire 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 may 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 best way. Whereas I can’t say it’s not possible to run 250 miles whereas pondering of it as one integral size alongside the best way, that’s definitely not how I run that form of distance! No, I’m both attempting to only run alongside within the second or from checkpoint to checkpoint. Though seemingly inconsequential, a section run nicely generally is a cookie. I simply ran from the final checkpoint to this one. Cookie. And I ran nicely 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 operating three good sections in a row. These small wins reassure us that we are able to succeed on our solution to the following checkpoint.
Now, let’s go gather some energy!
Name for Feedback
- What do you consider the ideas of callousing the thoughts, accumulating cookies, and accumulating energy?
- The place and when have you ever utilized a few of these ideas, even beneath 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.
