Runningmonkeys

We are told that patience is a virtue and that patience comes to those who wait.  We are told that doctors need plenty of patients or they go out of business and that if we want to learn how to be patient we should try waiting in one of their surgery waiting rooms.  But why is patience so important to runners, and how do we develop it.

First thing first here is a useful definition taken straight from the Wikipedia:

“Patience is the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties.”

You will notice that there are two very different forms of patience mentioned above.  The first is the waiting sort of patience.  This is the sort of patience we need when we are in the queue at the ticket machine or when our friend is late to pick us up for a race.  The second type is the endurance type of patience.  This is where patience causes us to continue around, over, under and past obstacles that come in the way of our objectives.  This is the sort of patience that we need to develop as runners. 

If we want to become dreamers then we should sit at home and patiently wait to become faster.  We should watch others train and race and patiently wait till there is a place on the winner’s podium left for us.  This will definitely involve a lot of patience because you will realistically have to wait for the rest of your life.  This sort of inactive patience simply doesn’t work in the world of running.Real runners specialise in the active type of patience.  They accept the fact that their progress towards their goals is dependent on their patient execution of the best scientific training and recovery they can get their hands on.  Patience in this case demands that when we find an obstacle in our path we set to work on a solution.  We don’t wait for the obstacle to go away. We stubbornly and persistently continue to strive for our goals.

Real runners may have big goals, but their feet are still on the ground.  They realise that there is no such thing as an easy victory.  They understand that between them and their potential are a thousand and one obstacles to overcome.  It is only patience that will enable a runner to continue over and past obstacle after obstacle and keep going.

There are a number of classic moments in a runner’s life when patience is at its most important:

• When an injury pops up in front of a runner, there are three potential responses.  Ignore it and hope it goes away (dreamer).  Give in to the injury and give up (loser).  Tackle the injury head on with treatment, rest, psychology and whatever else is at hand, recognising that this is simply another test of a runner’s patience.  The true runner will eventually come out of the injury stronger and faster as not only have they come back to health but they have also practiced and grown their ability to be patient.

• When racing results are not keeping up with training effort, then the patient runner will realise that a break through is somewhere just around the corner.  The runner honestly evaluates his/her current condition and will try fine-tuning their training or developing a new workout.  They will patiently continue to strive for excellence despite disappointing results because they know that real athletes are biological creatures that take time to become their best.

• When training for an important race a long way away it is tempting for most runners to apply too much training load too soon.  This risks their health and long term performance and jeopardises their race even months down the track.  The patient runner carefully sets a plan based on the distance between where he/she is today and the goal performance.  If this gap is to be eventually closed then the plan must be carefully and mindfully followed.  Patient training means not giving up to minor obstacles but modifying the plan when needed to make sure that the goal is always in site.

• A patient runner recognises that excellent performance is not developed at internet speed.  Our progress towards our goals cannot be clocked against the progress of the rest of our world.  There is simply no way to speed up our improvement beyond certain fixed limits (whatever they are).  So we must patiently and persistently continue our training over months, seasons and years.  Our potential is often many years down the track and it will take a lot of patient work to get there.  Trying to skip a step or push too hard too soon is a sign of impatience and a precursor to injury, burnout or worse.

• A patient runner knows the pace that is right for a particular race.  Long hours of training has shown what is possible and the runner sticks like glue to that pace.  Running too fast is a sign of impatience, as is running too slow.  Too fast and the runner will blow up and be unable to finish optimally,  too slow for even part of a race and the runner will be unable to catch up that time.  The patient runner, runs his/her own race and within reason dictates how fast they move along.

   It is the patient athlete who will eventually stand on the podium (whether in front of a crowd or simply on the podium that only he can see).  How is it that a runner can truly develop patience?  Sorry but I’ll have to tell you later.