It Never Gets Easier

Inspirational quotes have become a big part of American culture these days (and probably around the world, but I won't make that claim). Everyone is always citing some inspirational quote or posting it to their social media account, particularly Instagram. In the last handful of years, the new thing is for people to post it all over Pinterest and create art or t-shirts with these sayings. I'm gonna blame it on the rise of Crossfit, but I'm probably wrong. That's probably just when I noticed it. Because I mean... Everyone knows that the first rule of Crossfit is to always talk about Crossfit and working out. And lately that seems to have included posting these kinds of quotes...

During my 18 mile run the other day (my farthest ever), I started to think back to one of the quotes I remember stumbling across. The following quote comes from legendary cyclist Greg Lemond:

(Photo credit: http://www.iamtee.com/IamTee-Triathlon-Easier-Faster-T-Shirt/dp/B00D8IA44I)

While the quote and its variations may not have originally come from Lemond, that is who seems to be credited with it in the cycling and triathlon world. There have been many variations by the way. The most common being "... you just get stronger" or "... you just get better."

But as I started to loop around for mile 15 of my run, I could only think the most appropriate and realistic version of the quote should be:

(Edited Photo credit: http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/it-never-gets-easier-you-just-go-faster-4/)

It never gets easier. That's it. Plain, simple and no inspiration or false sense of inspiration attached.

Because I sure as heck thought to myself "Hey, I've ran 16 before and have now gotten at least 13 many, many times. 18 won't be that bad, right?" Wrong. 18 miles was still horrible and still painful. Then I looked down at my watch and I wasn't even faster at 14 miles. And as I lay here writing this post in pain on the floor, I definitely don't feel stronger.

I mean the reality is that I am likely better and probably stronger, but that's not really going to keep me going. That's not going to help inspire me in any way because it certainly doesn't feel as such when you're getting it in. So being the guy who hates sugar coating things, I just want the truth. And the truth is that it never gets easier. Period.

As for my training for IM FL, well it's going to be a struggle. I purposely ran a route that would take me 7 miles out, 7 miles back and then allow me to loop out and back another 4 miles to get the 18 total. IM FL is a two loop run course so I wanted to practice that. This training run made it so clear that I'm not yet ready for this marathon run.

Previously, I had just been doing an out and back type run. This type of run is slightly easier (at least mentally) because you just run half the distance you want and then all you gotta do is get back to where you started. Mentally, that's pretty easy to manage and think about and there's definitely less negative thoughts that can creep in.

But when you start doing an out and back then out and back again, things get dicey. First of all, that high you get from seeing your starting point quickly dissipates because you know that's actually not the end and you're only getting started. Second of all, if you generally knew how fast you were going the first time, you're likely to be disappointed this second go around. I mean, maybe if I was in better shape I wouldn't feel that way, but that reality set in when I completed mile 15 and was significantly slower. But finally, the most difficult part is setting in with the reality that you're only half way done, you're only going to be slower and it is only going to be more painful.

So is it easier? Absolutely not. Are you better or stronger? Maybe if you've got the right mix of training and think about where you've come from in X number of days or months. But in the end, it doesn't matter and there's only one thought you really need to remember:

(Photo credit: http://www.wallpaperhere.com/Just_Keep_Swimming_please_download_the_original_version_81410/download_1024x768)