The war on comfort.

in #exhaust5 years ago

I just finished a 3.8km run that lasted about 0hh:26mm:32ss !

image

Where am I looking in this photo? I was sure I was looking at the actual camera lens on my phone, and now it just looks like I was amused by something else. How am I supposed to become instafamous if I can't even take a selfie? I'm doomed!

During my run today, I was thinking about how I had previously been obsessed with being uncomfortable. If I was physically comfortable for a few hours, it would literally make me nervous and I'd need to go and train on something. It helped that my climbing gym was 2 blocks away (intentional) and I'd be there 2 or 3 times a day.

I was pretty active on social media, and really all the way in in the ninja warrior community. I was continually bombarded with people in the community doing amazing things that I couldn't do yet, and not only were competitions very often on my mind, but my weekly ninja classes and parkour classes were mini-competitions in their own right. Every hour spent training and eating right was an hour above my competition... and conversely every hour not spend being rad, was an hour behind I was falling.

I'm not sure if this was a healthy mindset or not... but I do kind of miss it. My run today was easier than it was last week, but I'd still rather be comfortable than uncomfortable. While I'm running, I'm thinking about how good it'll be to not be running... and that's kind of a shame, especially since I know that being active and strong really does make me happy.

I've never really been a fan of running though. I loved sprinting in Indoor Soccer (I'm 1/16th terrier) and love ninja obstacles... but running really is essential to compete properly... so I just have to relearn to crave uncomfortabilitiness or similar.
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Now that's a winner of a smile.

Ha. To me it looks like the awkwardiest of awks.... but I'll take it, thank you sir!

Haha isn't it funny how we often see ourselves so much more negatively than other people do? I totally do the same thing, and it's so dumb. Keep up the good work! ;)

I was literally having that same conversation with my partner on Friday night... she mentioned that she's unhappy with her tummy, and how it affects her clothing choices... and I've honestly never given it any thought because she's so ridiculously cute is so many ways.

I love that the exact same point I was making to her, you've now made to me... arrrrggghhh, we're all the worst/best.

I've had that conversation many times and it seems to be a never-ending cycle, but I guess acknowledging it as an issues is a good start towards thinking better of yourself!

Haha glad I could follow up with you ;) We are! Yay people!

Hey, Ninja! Your beard ... it's gone!

Sheesh, even my beard is a ninja...

Blend the discomfort with the satisfaction of accomplishment. In other words revel in the rewards for a moment. If you celebrate the victory of so much discomfort you can train your brain to seek it for the pleasure of reward. Rewards can be tiny, it's is not the size of the reward, rather it is the number of rewards. We are reward-seeking so use it to your advantage. Eliminate the obsession with discomfort and turn it into a reward seeking behavior and you work with your own neurology in a positive feedback loop

Shifu! Where did you come from? This is incredible advice!
I've been thinking about this a lot since I read it, and it's really helped change my mindset. I honestly had never considered this process.

To put your suggestion in a practical sense... I should do some fist pumps and loud YES' and generally celebrate my exercise until my brain starts to feel happier at the thought of successfully completing a training session?

The obsession about being uncomfortable is probably pretty unhealthy, because that desperate need to push yourself at all costs is how you get hurt and how you are then forced to rest and then you lose your condition with the rest but if you push it then no more Ninja Warrior for you ever XD

The drive to do better is all right though. Keep that one up ;D

Don't blame you, running is boring XD Do you actually need to be able to marathon run for Ninja Warrior? From pure observation and otherwise knowing sfa it seems to me that sprints are more important, so maybe instead of running you could just flog along as long as you can in spurts and intersperse with a brisk walk? It's what I did when I went running with my sister on Christmas Island but it's also because I like sprinting and I can't run long distance XD

That's a really good point.
I'm not sure if I actually understand the difference in a real world sense... but it might just be a matter of perception. If I tell myself that I want to complete my training sessions so that I'm always improving, that might be healthier than looking to be uncomfortable.

You're absolutely right!
Sprints are more important, which is why I try and do some hill sprints on my running days. I did find in my last competition that I was completely knackered. I successfully completed all the obstacles, but I was so tired that I missed out on 3rd place by 20 seconds. That was entirely due to endurance. So my hill sprints are for strength and that explosive power, and the running is for the endurance to link the series of obstacles together and to recover from each one quicker.

Do you have the time to try doing sprints in between walks and see if that makes your endurance better or worse?

Otherwise don't worry about feeling like you'd much rather not be running because you're at least running despitepreferring not to :D

I struggle with this too, dude. I get antsy if I haven't gotten any exercise in a day or two -- and then I get so excited to do more than I slowly creep towards injury. Chasing after the people that are faster, stronger, and more skilled is one of the best ways to improve quickly -- but obsessing is rarely a good practice (or so I've been told, at least).

I wish there were an obstacle course gym thingy here -- looks like it would be really fun and motivating to try some of those ninja moves!

Yeah, I hear you... but sometimes it feels like obsessing is the only way to get real good at things. I'm sure Mr Musk has gotten to where he is by just completely fixating on things until they're solved.

They are super fun... especially if you want to find new and exciting ways to be terrible at things. You've got a couple that are a ferry and long drive away : Vanity OCR in Port Coquitlam, Apex Adventure in Richmond and Skyzone in Vancouver. The last two seem like they're made for little kids though, so they might not be too fun... or they might be crazy fun if you need to entertain little ones.

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