Tough Steps Are The Ones That Count

When I was running my 1km intervals the other night with my friend John Carson I noticed something. At interval pace (4:25/km) everything is tougher, specially when you are doing hill intervals! What hit me was that at this speed the slightest incline was noticeable in the feet and the legs.

I hadn't thought about it again until on my long run today. You see I was set to run with the Run for Life group Saturday morning when my wife was rescheduled to work. So as we runners do, I zigged. 25km all by my lonesome. Out came the iPod and away I went. First up on the iPod was my Free The Beagle audio book. This book always brings me something new every time I read/listen to it. As I got into chapter 11 there it was:

"Yesterday the lawyer had felt the forest floor begin to rise and had allowed the slight incline to guide his footsteps in the darkness. If a step seemed easy, he knew it was leading him downward. It was only the more difficult steps that would take him higher"

You see this book has helped guide me in business, in life and now was making sense in my running. These words hung heavy in my ears. I have just recently taken some difficult steps in my business and have been taking many difficult steps in running. Difficult steps lead you to higher ground.

"Having resolved to take only the difficult steps, he sat now in bright sunlight, high upon a hilltop, scanning a panoramic forest."

I often wonder why I see runners not pushing, not improving, not going to the next level. It's that simple, when the difficult steps come they take the easy ones. They walk up the hill, ease through the down hill, run as fast on the on minute as they do in the off minute, settle for 6.8km and not push on to 7km, or decide to not run because it's snowing, raining, cold, hot, foggy, or icy.

Figure what you want. Do you want to get to hang out in the village of compromise or climb the purple mountains on your way to Destinae?