Just the other day, I awoke to a cool June morning here in Colorado, where I am posted up training for the infamous Hardrock 100 race. As usual, I made myself a big bowl of oatmeal and sat down to shovel it down my gullet. Noting the cool temps and rain falling outside, I decided that it seemed like a good day to put in a hard effort on one of my favorite mountains: Cameron Cone.
“The Cone,” as I often call it, is a steep mountain whose route is often a bit of a traction battle. Fortunately, rain can sometimes make such a trail a lot tackier, and therefore, faster. Hence, the extra bit of eagerness to press hard on this particular day. But, ideally, I’d wait for the rain to stop, then let things settle a bit before heading out to drop the hammer.
A gorgeous view from one Zach’s training runs up high on Pikes Peak in Colorado. Photo: Zach Miller
As the storms rolled in and out on what seemed like a never-ending cycle, I took to mending a couple of sets of running poles that I had been needing to fix. The gist of what I needed to do was not all that complicated. But, as is often the case with such projects, I ran into a few problems along the way. Each problem that arose cost me more time than I would have liked. Fortunately, the rain kept falling, and as it did, I found my way forward.
Toward the end of the project, however, I faced one particular problem that refused to be solved. Nothing I did worked. The best I could do was a sort of halfway solution that left a lot to be desired. But then I saw it: a totally different strategy. And just like that, things went from a frustrating dead end to a seemingly perfect solution.
A short while later, the storms gave me my weather window, and I was out the door and charging up the Cone with a pair of freshly mended poles. Looking back, it’s funny that I didn’t see the solution sooner. But at the same time, I recognize exactly why I didn’t. I was distracted by the wrong idea.
I probably make this mistake a lot in life. Instead of taking a step back and asking myself, “How else might this be done?” I get fixated on an idea, a goal, a strategy, etc., and forge ahead until I run straight into that stubborn brick wall.
The mending of some running poles. Photo: Zach Miller
Chasing the Wrong Rabbit
Unfortunately, this tendency to chase the wrong rabbit seems all too common in life. As runners, we sometimes fixate on the wrong things. We obsess over metrics like mileage, vert, and pace. Oftentimes, paying attention to such things is good. Other times, they become the “bad ideas” that distract us from the real solutions, things like effort, strength, rest, and health.
Typically, the main goal of training is to arrive at a start line fit and healthy. One way of doing this might be to run a lot of miles. Similarly, logging big vert days might be a way to get to a start line with a lot of strength. But things like mileage and vert are just the means by which we achieve the primary goals of strength and fitness. If mileage and vert are leaving us injured or overly tired, then they are actually getting in the way of us achieving our end goal. They are the flawed strategies distracting us from the best solutions.
As runners, it’s important for us to recognize what our ultimate goal is. It’s like mending a running pole. In the end, it simply needs to function well. It doesn’t matter so much how we get there, just that we get there. Now, in running, it does matter that you do things fairly and legally, but whether you run, bike, lift, swim, hike, or ski to reach the goal doesn’t necessarily matter. What matters is that you do whatever is best for your body to arrive at the starting line as well prepared as possible. What that journey looks like is very individualized.
It’s your pole to mend.
The author running through Williams Canyon in Colorado on a rainy day. Photo: Peter Maksimow
Call for Comments
Can you sometimes find yourself fixated with one way of training or solving a problem?
