The Art of Starting and Finishing
Recently I started running on a track again. While I usually prefer the twists and turns of winding aimlessly through the streets of my town, the soft rubber surface of the flat track was a nice change of pace. I had intended just to finish up my three-mile run but as I finished mile three, I decided to run some intervals.
Intervals are when you run a chosen distance at an increased pace, and then slow down for a chosen distance at a decreased pace. Then you do it again. And again. And again. This type of training gives your body a chance to work a lot harder for a short amount of time. For runners, this is the type of training that helps you grow in your skill as a runner.
If you want to improve your speed or endurance, you don’t just keep running the same distance at the same pace; you need to give your body a taste of what it’s like to move a little faster and go a little farther. Can't run three miles at pace X? No problem. Run 30 seconds at pace X. Can't run three miles at all? No problem. Run some of it and walk some of it. As a runner, this is of course something that I’ve always known; if you want to improve your speed or distance, you need to run intervals. There’s another advantage though, one I didn’t realize until recently when I was starting another lap.
I was about five miles in, which meant I had four more laps left. The loop I was doing involved walking around one of the rounded sides of the track oval until I reached the starting line at which I would start jogging. As I made my way down the first straight, I would slowly increase my speed and then when I reached the second straight, I would give it all I had to my finish line. Then I would slow to a brief walk around that curve before starting it over again.
When I started again for what was now the 13th time, I realized the interval training doesn’t just teach your body how to move faster, interval training teaches you the art of starting and finishing. Starting something when you are fresh is easy; starting something when you’re five miles in, is hard. My legs were starting to feel sore; I was getting winded more easily, and every time I started, I wasn’t sure how much I had left in me. I questioned in my mind if I’d be able to make it around that quarter mile loop and it is that questioning, that uncertainty, that keeps us from starting things we were meant for. So, by doing this over and over again, I’m training my mind to start even when it’s hard. I’m training my mind to ignore the doubt and the questions and do it anyway.
Then when I reach that second straight, over and over again I teach my mind how to give it everything I’ve got. I can’t worry about having enough energy for the next loop, all I need to think about is that moment and going as fast as my legs will carry me. It doesn’t matter what I did last lap or what will happen next, I’m training my mind to focus fully on the moment I’m in and to finish strong. Over and over again I finish as strong as I can knowing that my strength may vary from lap to lap, but it doesn’t matter; as long as I give my all, whatever my all is in that moment, then I can smile when I cross that line knowing I did my very best.
The art of starting and finishing are both essential skills for growth and they both exist entirely in your mind. It’s a mental muscle that you need to learn how to flex. If next year you want to be the same person as you are today, then great! Keep up the same mental pace. But if you hope to grow. If you hope to be able to metaphorically run a little faster and a little farther then maybe it’s time to run some intervals. Mix up your routine so you’re not just doing the same thing over and over. Find a way to flex those start and finish muscles.
