Train Your Brain: Consistency

Steve Hielkema

Welcome to Week Whatever… Ever feel that way?  We just get finished with one week and we are back at ‘0’ and we must start all over again.  So, welcome to next week.

Recently, one of my friends, ran and completed the Ohio Northern Polar Bear Indoor Marathon.  211 laps around a 200-meter track...one after another for 26.2 miles!  He then followed it up a few weeks later with 26 laps in Dublin at the Warm-Up Columbus Marathon. 

Those races exemplify what it means to live the life of a runner.  We run... one lap, one mile, one training run, one more speed work, one more race, one after another... and we keep coming back for more.

There is another MIT’er who at the start of the Covid shut down ran a marathon every day for 50+ days.  He also came very close to completing a Triathlon x 10 (Swimming 24 miles… in a pool, Biking 1120 miles, and Running 262 miles). 

Others of us are setting out on our own challenges (this is not a comparison, please – be proud of the goals you have set for yourself on your own personal journey) - 50 State marathons/half-marathons, Week 7 of NOBO, a BQ, training for your first race, recovering from injury, illness, or disability.  What’s the common thread?  It is Consistency.

Consistency is where the magic is found.  Consistency is what transforms the average into the excellent.  The magic isn't found in running a faster pace or crushing long distances.  It is found in ‘relentless forward progress.’  The late Hall of Fame basketball coach, Pat Summit said, ‘Left foot, Right foot, breathe - Repeat.  Each day I strive for Progression not Perfection.’  

Each day we put one foot in front of the other – we progress, consistently, day in and day out (with adequate days off for rest and a good night's sleep).  It's in those early morning miles, the trudging through the snow, the rain, the heat, and humidity where we find ourselves changed.

But this is more than just about walking or running.  You know that life is more of a marathon than a sprint.  We go through seasons where we are beaten down by life, beset with struggles, overwhelmed by fears, overcome with grief, and somehow, we move forward.  

Before I started running and training for first a half-marathon and then full marathons, I struggled with some occupational issues and family concerns.  Consequently, I had allowed myself to get pretty out of shape.  I was beaten down.  But running helped to change that.  In the consistency of running, I was given the strength to face each new day.

Because of running and walking in our lives… we are building a base, a bedrock, a place to stand firm, resolute, tall.  Where we once felt weak, we feel strong.  Where we once questioned our abilities, we now have a silent confidence.  Where we once felt overwhelmed by life, we now feel strangely resilient. 

Christopher McDougall writes in Born to Run, “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.  Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.  It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.  It doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

Life is calling… it’s time to lace up!

Steve Hielkema is our MIT Advanced Training Program Coach, a five-time Boston Marathon qualifier, an ordained minister & hospice chaplain, a father, and grandfather.