From Miserable Slog to Peak Experience

Finishing an ultra - enduring a crazy number of hours and miles over a challenging course most people wouldn’t believe - is hard enough without adding intense mental and emotional difficulty to the race.

Negative thinking can turn a peak experience into a miserable slog you just want to end.

For example, this weekend, I got a terribly late start for a 20 mile long run in the mountains. 

The course was a lollipop, so when I reached the ridge line, I’d have to commit to the rest of the circle - a longer route - or bail and return the shorter way I’d come. 

By the time I reached the ridge, rain darkened the sky, the wind gusted, clouds blew past me like a grey river, and the temperature had dropped.

It felt like I had 10 minutes left before dark…and I was the farthest I could get from the car.

I wasn’t sure how far I could get in remaining daylight but I had a headlamp and layers, so I stubbornly committed to the rest of the lollipop.

A tenth of a mile along the ridge and panic kicked in. I started thinking, “This is bad, this is stupid, this was a mistake, I shouldn’t be here.”

I pushed hard over the rocks and roots, difficult in the low visibility. 

I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be done and at the trailhead…hours away.

The same thinking can happen in a race and the most common strategy is to avoid it. 

Distract yourself - find another runner to talk to, listen to music, count, think about the finish line… Or try to shut the negative thoughts out and pretend you’re fine.

Avoiding negative thinking works against you because it’s still in the back of your mind and you have to keep avoiding it to get through the race. 

You end up mentally and emotionally spent.

And if you do make it to the finish, it’s not at your best.

The real problem isn’t having negative thoughts. You’re going to - you’re human.

The problem is letting them take over and control you.

You’ve got to do the controlling.

Which is why I teach clients a process to intentionally choose thoughts that work better.

I used it on that mountain run. 

I accepted I was where I was and couldn’t drop or teleport out. And as long as I was there, on top of a mountain I’d worked hard to get to, I wasn’t about to spend the time in frantic fear. That’s what would be stupid.

I relaxed and looked at the situation with new eyes. There weren’t any thunderstorms, I knew the trail, I’d gained an hour on sunset and hadn’t needed to add a layer yet. 

The switch flipped and I relaxed. 

I wasn’t actually in any danger. I didn’t need to rush. I could enjoy this.

I looked around. Standing on a narrow ridge with clouds flying past you is dramatic and wild, one of my favorite experiences in the mountains. Occasionally, I could peek far below cloud line to the valley below, like I was floating in the cloud. I had the trail to myself except for two bears, a turkey, and a boar with four piglets that didn’t expect a human to be up high on a dark, wet evening. 

And at the end…fireflies.

All of which I would have barely glanced at or seen as a delay if I’d been rushing to get done and out of there.

When you learn how to control your thinking, you don’t have to spend your race worried you’re going to think negative thoughts. 

Whatever they are, you’re ready for them when they appear.

Because you have the power to turn a miserable slog into a peak experience.