‘keep going’
I have a teammate who is the best cheerer. Like, no matter how many laps you’re doing on the track, he will cheer you every single time and will mostly shout to you ‘well done, KEEP GOING!’.
Some argue ‘keep going’ is not a good ‘cheer’ (as if there is such a thing as a ‘bad cheer’, although if I think of my mom ‘cheering me’ in the first race she came to watch, shoutng to me ‘are you ok?!’ while 10K in the run of an Ironman 70.3, yes there is!) but I think it’s a great one. As endurance athletes, most of the time, really that’s our only job: just to ‘keep going’.
Whether during a long race, a tough workout or, like me now, a frustrating injury* that came out of nowhere and I can’t see my way out of. I am questioning everything: am I good enough for this sport, why am I even bothering if my body ‘just can’t take it’, ‘what’s the point’ if I’m spending so much time on this emotional roller coaster trying to work my way back and, of course, is the professional advice I am getting correct and should I keep following it?! Or should I just take a complete break or just QUIT ALTOGETHER?!
End of rant.
The answer to all of this is, of course, to just ‘keep going’. There is something so powerful about putting your head down and going through the motions. When you want to quit, when you feel weak, when you’re questioning everything. If you just keep going, you will, ultimately, get where you want to be. The journey may not look as you planned it and it may take longer, and longer again, and you’ll have to re-adjust your expectations multiple times, but you will get there, eventually. Because there is no other way, if you keep at it. But importantly for me, to ‘just’ keep going it means I should stop questioning, or trying to find the answers. Because this is the most exhausting part. This is the suffering. To keep going means to let go.
Somebody once asked me ‘how do I do this’ as in, it is so difficult and I must be ‘so strong’ or whatever and I just thought: I am not strong, or talented, or better than anyone else that has not done anything like this before. I am simply stupid enough to commit to something and stick to it, even when I don’t feel like doing it. Well it’s one of these times that I have to pick up my pieces, quiet the ego in my mind judging and questioning everything and put my words where my mouth is. And just… keep going.
*Since St. George I’ve developed ITB friction syndrome, most likely from the continuous downhill sections of the course. It only hurt briefly after the race (as many other body parts!) and I thought it went away but it came up as soon as I started running again after a 2-week break. I have had a cortisone injection since and I am now in the frustrating process of trying to get back to it. Although I have been largely able to run easy, I am currently struggling to pick up the pace without feeling pain. I totally underestimated this injury and it is with great frustration that I can state it is taking longer than any other injury I’ve had, and I’ve had many, some serious and of many types. Who knew!