90/10 Split

They say that when you train for anything it is 90% physical and 10% mental. That means it is all about training the body and a little about training the brain. It does not matter what you think or what you feel, what does matter is doing the exercises. I want to talk about that 90% for a long time before we get into the 10% since that is the easiest part in my opinion of any training program. Now back the physical...will it hurt? Yes. Will the pain go away? Yes. Will I possibly feel like shit for a while? Yes...but after a while when your body adjusts you will feel better so much so it may be hard to imagine not being active (vacations are allowed of course) and not engaging in the activity that has got you where you are. Maybe that makes you an endorphin junkie, but who cares. Your out there your doing that which most people would think is crazy, but at the end of the day your body responds with shaping up and being able to do things that maybe a year, a month, a week, or even the day before you thought was impossible, well that's the 90% and that is what separates you from the couch potato across the street or in the cube next to yours. You look better, you feel better, your mind and body are in greater symbiosis. Now does this mean that everyone has to run and run and run...well no duh! There are many for a number of reasons that can't and shouldn't, but that is not an excuse for making your body the best it can be and knowing when you walk around that you are the one getting the second looks because, you put pain and excuses aside and worked through cramps and soreness until your body grew accustomed, you deserve it.

Now for the mental 10% that is easy I can sum it up this way with a quote from one of my most favorite TBS movies, as an aside if I ever actually owned it I would have no idea what to do with myself, and here it is "Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever" - Shane Falco from the movie The Replacements. That pretty much sums up the other 10% when you are training well that and one other movie quote that has been a guiding influence for me in a lot of what I do when I want to set my mind to something and as Master Yoda to Luke Skywalker in the Empire Strikes Back "Do or do not there is no try" (honestly did you think you would get by with out at least one Star Wars quote). When I break down the 10% that really is all there is to it and I know that because in my bathroom I have strategically hung my metals from my races so far and when I see them I think about how cool it was to cross the finish line every time (a little glory) and knowing that all my training made sure it was a possibility and not an impossibility (doing and not trying).

Later as I move closer to my next 5k in a little less than a month I will talk more about when the split shifts and how to handle that, I think you will find it interesting. Oh and did I mention that I am in the process of planing my first 1/2 Marathon!!! I am totally looking forward to that and more to come on how when my OCD kicked in this week I talked myself into doing something totally nuts, but I can and will accomplish my goal...reference quotes above.