No, this is not about the President.
Just over four years ago, my buddy Tony and I decided to run a half marathon together. We had heard that the half for the Tucson Marathon was a good one to start with, so we signed up and took on the challenge.
The course was supposed to be primarily downhill. I thought this was kind of deceptive, since the last mile or so was almost all uphill. At the very end of a very long run. And this is where everyone was lined up to watch, including a good number of my coworkers that had signed up to work the race. I couldn't slow to a crawl in front of them.
In spite of the difficulties, I was pleased with my time. I know some people can do the whole 26 miles in this time, but I was glad to finish with a 2:05. Tony finished a good five minutes ahead of me.
If I ran it today, I could not finish with a time that was as good as that. Not even if I decided to try really really hard. Not even if I pulled a Pheidippides and ran myself to death.
Just over four years ago, my buddy Tony and I decided to run a half marathon together. We had heard that the half for the Tucson Marathon was a good one to start with, so we signed up and took on the challenge.
The course was supposed to be primarily downhill. I thought this was kind of deceptive, since the last mile or so was almost all uphill. At the very end of a very long run. And this is where everyone was lined up to watch, including a good number of my coworkers that had signed up to work the race. I couldn't slow to a crawl in front of them.
In spite of the difficulties, I was pleased with my time. I know some people can do the whole 26 miles in this time, but I was glad to finish with a 2:05. Tony finished a good five minutes ahead of me.
If I ran it today, I could not finish with a time that was as good as that. Not even if I decided to try really really hard. Not even if I pulled a Pheidippides and ran myself to death.
Why?
It's simple.
I trained for it.
For over four months, I spent hours and hours racking up miles on the road to prepare my body to run over 13 miles. It wasn't fun, but it made a difference.
I think this applies to every area of life. If you want to be better in your personal life, it takes training. If you want to be better at a skill at, it takes training. Better with your spiritual disciplines? Training.
I haven't been able to think of an area where training doesn't help you improve, where trying without training can even make your performance terrible.
Training Trumps Trying.
Every
Single
Time
It's simple.
I trained for it.
For over four months, I spent hours and hours racking up miles on the road to prepare my body to run over 13 miles. It wasn't fun, but it made a difference.
I think this applies to every area of life. If you want to be better in your personal life, it takes training. If you want to be better at a skill at, it takes training. Better with your spiritual disciplines? Training.
I haven't been able to think of an area where training doesn't help you improve, where trying without training can even make your performance terrible.
Training Trumps Trying.
Every
Single
Time
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