The Fitness Adviser

Charlie Gets Pumped For A Half Marathon Race

For the first time in a long time, Charlie was pumped. Despite being in medical school, he had managed to make the time to train for his first half marathon race. He ran three times a week on a set program, and strengthened his body another two days a week. He even made sure to eat well for months, something he hadn’t done in years. But that wasn’t why Charlie was pumped. He was pumped because he made a hundred dollar bet with Jack  that Charlie would beat him in the race. Charlie had been competing with Jack since grade school.

[This has nothing to do with the post, but this picture of crocodiles sleeping is nuts! How would you feel if you just randomly stumbled upon a group of sleeping crocodiles?]

This race was of particular importance to Charlie for one reason. He believed that he could win. Whereas quite frankly, Jack had always one upped him in everything, whether it be gliding through school with good grades without studying, or always being the life of the party when Charlie was more geeky and shy. This time Charlie felt it would be different since Jack hadn’t been training hard, while Charlie had been on a rigorous training regimen.

The Day Of The Race

It was a warm, summer day. Warm enough that you had to drink plenty of water, but not so hot that you probably shouldn’t be running. Charlie rocked his arms back and forth like swimmers often do and then lightly stretched his hamstrings. Then he felt someone tap on his shoulder. It was Jack.

“Hey Charlie. Just so you don’t have to stress about the race you’re about to lose. I want to let you know that I’ll use some of that $100 to buy you a strawberry smoothie after.” Jack said.

“In your dreams Jack. This time, the smoothie’s on me.” This comeback made Charlie feel like Bruce Willis in Die Hard or even Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry. Honestly, Charlie probably should get out more.

The Race Itself

The race started out well for Charlie. He felt good, he was keeping up a good pace and was confident. He occasionally looked to the side to see that Jack, while keeping up with Charlie, was really pushing himself to the extreme. Charlie felt the race was in the bag. One mile passed, two miles, five miles, eight miles and Charlie was still feeling strong. His legs were starting to get tired, but he knew he would be able to finish the thirteen miles.

By the time he got to mile twelve, he had just enough in him to finish the race, but he would finish, and more importantly, he would finish ahead of Jack, who he figured was way behind him since he had been struggling to keep up since mile four. With a quarter of a mile left to go, Charlie was satisfied that he had won. Then he saw something which amazed him. Coming up behind him, in a run that looked more like a fast limp, he saw Jack. Then he saw Jack pass him.

He could not believe his eyes, and tried to start running faster to catch up to his limping, sprinting, crazy competitor. But he just didn’t have it in him. He was too tired, and he had paced himself too well. He just didn’t have it in him to sprint right now, and couldn’t make his legs go. He watched as Jack passed the finish line to beat Charlie once again. Charlie didn’t understand how he could lose. He had trained and eaten well, and was clearly in better shape than Jack. Where did he go wrong?

Where Charlie Went Wrong

Charlie is right when he says that his training was done correctly. After all, in reality he was in better shape than Jack. So if Charlie was better trained and in better shape than Jack, how did Jack beat him in the race? The answer is that Jack gave the race everything he had, running as if a bear was chasing him. As opposed to Charlie, who thought he gave the race everything he had, but in reality did not even come close to reaching his full potential. How was Jack able to push himself more than Charlie?

Mental Toughness Differentiates The Great From The Extraordinary

Jack, unlike Charlie, is a natural athlete. He understands his body, and knows just how capable he really is. Growing up, he always did things that were sort of “crazy”, like taking long dangerous hikes with a few friends or doing major kayaking. While these things aren’t necessarily recommended, it helped Jack get out of his comfort zone and understand that he could do things that he simply did not believe he could do.

Charlie, on the other hand, never really got out of his comfort zone. He always played within the rules and stuck to just studying for school. Because of that, he always approached athletics with the attitude of studying for a test, where it’s 100% how much you prepare, and all the willpower in the world won’t make you remember things you never learned. But sports and competitions are different, while training is 90% of it, that last 10% makes the difference between winning and losing.

How Charlie Can Build Mental Toughness

Charlie has to be careful in how he builds mental toughness, because there is a fine line between pushing yourself and injuring yourself. To help Charlie gain mental toughness and confidence without injuring himself, he should get used to doing something that’s out of his comfort zone.

If he’s a little afraid of the open ocean, he should try to find someone to go sailing with. Very occasionally during training, maybe he should keep doing push ups until he’s completely and utterly fatigued. Or perhaps take a cold shower instead of a hot shower. The idea is to do things to mix up his routine and to ensure that the next time he races, he’ll have plenty left at the end to go for that world winning sprint.

Where You Can Find More Of Charlie’s Exploits

If you’re interested in seeing more of Charlie, get my free 9 page e-report, The Fitness Parable: Learning From Charlie’s Mistakes in His Journey To Getting Strong, Fit, and Healthy For Life by email. By analyzing and understanding Charlie’s journey to getting strong, I help you better understand how to go about reaching your personal fitness goals. You can get it for free, here. 

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Miscellaneous by Rafi