Surprised by Suffering

I love this time of year. The end of one and the beginning of another. Everyone I know begins making goals, plans, resolutions or whatever you want to call them for the upcoming year. 

As runners we are wrapping up 2021 and beginning to look forward to 2022. You may be the type of person that is looking at what races you are going to run in the first quarter of the year or are laying out a race plan for the entire year. Next year may be the year you run your first 50k, or you have set your sights on a 50 or 100 miler. It could be a backyard style race where your goal is to win it or just to see how far you can possibly go. 

You may be reflecting on 2021 and the things that went well with eyes on next year as a chance to make some slight modifications but to keep pressing with what got you here. Or, you are looking at a variety of changes to address things that did not go so well last year. 

Making plans for 2022

Personally, I know a lot of runners that have mentioned that they plan to add in more discipline with mobility and stretching, or adding in strength training, cross training, diet changes, getting a coach, or even just becoming more disciplined on their existing running plan. Whatever it is, we are making plans for a heckuva 2022 and beyond. 

Obviously, when we take the time to make these types of plans we see ourselves succeeding, or at least believing that we are going to put ourselves in a position to succeed. But, let me call your attention to one area that you may be neglecting to “plan” for.

If you have run an ultra before, or as you think about running an ultra, we fundamentally acknowledge that there is going to be some level of pain, discomfort, or, as I like to say, suffering. When you run an ultra, there is always an element of suffering because we are pushing our bodies to a level of discomfort that they are not accustomed to. Not all ultras are the same, and even when we choose to run the same ultra year after year the experience can be completely different. In all though, there is an element of suffering. 

Be prepared

So, let me ask. Are you prepared to suffer? Are you laying out your goals and looking at how you are getting ready for the suffering? The goals we outline have the intent of making us better athletes, to help us complete our goals, and ultimately the better we prepare, the less the suffering right? Or at least, that is kind of the hope. 

As an ultra runner, and as a cohost on an ultra running podcast where I have the chance to talk to a lot of ultra runners (elite or not), they will all talk about the pain that they have experienced. They will talk about the physical pain and the mental pain, they will mention pain caves, battling demons or going into a dark place. It is all suffering. 

Here is the catch. If you were sitting here talking with me right now, you would agree with me. This isn’t so far out of left field for you that you are surprised that I am saying you will suffer. Instead, we would kind of laugh about it and perhaps reflect on some of our worst experiences during a race, or guess at what could go wrong in the next. 

And yet, knowing all of this when we get to the race we have been training for, something happens. We set out on race day feeling good, maybe a little anxious, but excited and ready to go. We are running easy and thinking about how strong we feel. The weeks of training have helped and we feel strong. Hanging out with others who are also all looking incredibly happy and comfortable. Life is good. We can’t believe we are here and running a race that we have been thinking about for months or years.

It will happen

Until, the hiccup. The first sign of discomfort. The first break in how we are feeling. Perhaps, we feel a small twinge in a knee, ankle or hip. Or we feel that our breathing is becoming a little labored. Maybe, it’s hotter than we thought it was going to be, or our hydration/nutrition is not sitting right on the stomach. And, the early signs of suffering begin. 

If you have stuck around this long reading this, then my friend this is what you are here for. This is the point. Because at this moment that the suffering begins, I want to tell you it is critical that you do not start acting surprised by it. Do not be surprised by the suffering. You knew challenges would take place and that it would be difficult at some point. You knew that there was going to be suffering, so why are you acting surprised, disappointed, or even frustrated?

Growth

When you get a handle on the emotion that takes place in this moment, you will evolve in the sport. It is one of the most important things that you can begin to do. It will help change the outcomes of your races and how you even perceive the experience. Don’t believe me? Ask anyone that DNFs a race. Ask them what happened and they will tell you a variety of reasons that they had to call it quits. Then, when they are done describing what went wrong, I want you to ask them. Ask them if they were surprised when it first happened, when they first noticed things were going wrong, what they thought or felt at that moment. They will express being frustrated, disappointed, shocked that it was hurting so early or whatever. And 9 times out of 10 you will see what I am talking about. 

It doesn’t mean that the reason someone DNFs are not legitimate reasons. What I want you to consider is the initial emotions when things start to go wrong. Understanding this and how you can change that, which ultimately, I believe will change the outcome for many of us.

Do something about it

Go back to your goals for 2022. Ask yourself, what are you going to do to challenge the way you think? What are you going to work on that will help you be less surprised by the suffering? And, lastly, what are you going to do when you suffer?

I would encourage you to embrace the runs on your plan that you least look forward to. If you hate long runs, or hill/speed workouts, then change the way you see them. These runs that you hate, that may feel hard or taxing are exactly what you need to do. They help give you a feeling of suffering, so that on race day you can reflect on how you felt and know that you have felt this before.

This is nothing to be surprised about. It doesn’t matter how much longer you still have to go, it matters that you feel what you feel and you have been there before. We don’t need to spend the next few minutes thinking about how much further we have to go until we are “done”. We have to just know this is what we have trained for. It hurts but we have hurt before. 

Practice makes perfect

There are a lot of good tips and tricks out on the web-verse for us. Google ideas on how to change your mindset, read books on it and practice what you are reading. Don’t just read it. Write it down and practice. Put the tips in practice when you are doing those hard workouts and those mornings you don’t want to get up to do anything. 

Add them to your arsenal for race day. Train the brain and tame the mind so that on race day, not only when you have done all the other things you planned to do in preparation, you will have prepared yourself for suffering and when you are finished, you will have suffered well. 

Here is to 2022 and for all of us, let’s not be surprised by the suffering. Let us suffer and suffer well.

What About You?

I would love to hear from you. How will you prepare for the suffering?

Feel free to leave a comment below, catch up with me on Instagram at @winchesterjeff or send an email to [email protected]. Don’t forget to head over to our  Video and Blog pages for more content!