“Run like you breathe”
That was what some famous running athlete told me when I first started training to run long distances. His advice to me for preparation was to run so much and so often that you learn to run like you breathe. I did not understand what he meant at all. Now I do.
To do something like you breathe is to just go about the activity without even thinking about it, to do so in such a casual manner that it requires no special effort or mental calculation. It is so natural to you that it feels strange to not being doing the activity. This is why a 100 mile distance seems like a crazy concept, but to someone who runs like they breathe is just a day doing what is natural. Breathing.
So when I overthink I get all tensed up. I get worried, nervous, crazy with concern about this and that. I get tripped up on all the little things that I think I need. Running does not require much to be successful. A good pair of shoes I suppose, perhaps some calories to consume along the way and some water – but at the end of the day – the activity should be relatively effortless. Lace up the shoes and go. Work out the little concerns along the way. Run while you think. Think while you run. Breathing.
What does it take to get to that level with a particular activity? Not sure. Perhaps it is a number of hours thing, like Gladwell talked about in his book. I have tracked this. I have spent roughly 500 days running consecutively. I have taken some rest days, but over those 500 days my average time spent running has been roughly 1 hour a day. So 500 hours into it, and I am starting to get feel like running is so natural that I hardly think about it anymore when I zone out in mile 3, 4, 5, etc..
This is not about running, that just so happens to be one of the major challenges that I took on. I wanted to be healthier, so I picked something that I absolutely hated. The reasoning? The thing I hated was probably the best thing for me. So I Embraced the Suck and went after it. Now I am running like I breath. Now it is a struggle for me at faster paces. For example, if I push myself and go at 6, 7 minutes a mile then I am struggling to maintain that for a long period of time. However, 9 minutes a mile feels like walking now. 10 minutes per mile feels like I could go on forever. For someone who started out at a snail crawls pace of a 15, 16 minute mile that is a significant difference.
So is the answer to your greatest challenge in life simply do do something everyday for a long period of time until it feels like breathing? Is it really complicated, or is just a matter of consistent repetition? You want to be a good runner, run everyday. If you want to be a good writer, write everyday. If you want to be a good musician, play music everyday. You want to learn to speak French, then speak French everyday. I imagine it works in reverse as well. You want to stop a bad habit? Do not do it everyday until you can breathe without thinking about it.
Do you have a weakness that you would like to be a strength? Identify your weakness, figure out something you can do to improve it. Do that everyday, until you just start doing it like you breathe. You will no longer have that weakness. People will look at you as if you were an expert in that thing. You will think, me? No, I am completely weak at that. They will look at you in astonishment and object because they will see the obvious – you are not weak. You are strong. You perform that task like you breathe and everyone around you can tell.
Guy Reams
11 Days to 1st Marathon
