Part 1: The ‘hilly bit’.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going!
Or they get running. Or they do something!
Sometimes, the ‘tough’ even start running up the ‘hilly bit’!!
Which is where the ‘tough’ and I usually part ways.
I hate the ‘hilly bit’ with a vengeance! (Which is strange when I live in a city surrounded by them). I detest the way the ‘hilly bit’ can ruin the most enjoyable of runs. Nothing’s easy when a ‘hilly bit’ gets in on the act. I hate everything about it. The way it sneaks up when you least expect it. The way its lurks at the end of a road, looking insignificant - ’til you get up close.
The ‘hilly bit’ can take you completely by surprise and should never be underestimated.
It has a way of blatantly making your run way more stressful than it needs to be. It makes your legs hurt and your lungs strain and your arms ache. It makes you feel like you daren’t stop because there’re still miles to go and if you stop now you might never get started again.
Running up the ‘hilly bit’ is tough!
But then, I guess that’s the point.
The ‘hilly bit’ is there for a reason. And what’s the use of running a marathon if there’s no ‘hilly bit’. Anyone could do it then. There would simply be no challenge. The ‘hilly bit’ helps you find your mettle.
It helps you discover what you’re made of.
The ‘hilly bit’ is inherent in everything.
If you’re on a diet the ‘hilly bit’ is the three o’clock munchies.
If you’re going for ‘dry July’ the ‘hilly bit’ is Friday night drinks, after work
If you’re writing a story the ‘hilly bit’ comes right at the beginning with the blank page.
There is always a 'hilly bit' in a relationship.
The ‘hilly bit’ will trip you up every time. It’s the thing that will make you doubt yourself and this crazy thing you want to do. The trick is to see it for what it is. Something that’s out to get you.
Confront it head on. . . Trust me. . . It’s the only way.
Just like in that old ‘Bear Hunt’ story - “you can’t go over it, you can’t go under it, you gotta go thru it.” Or, in the case of the ‘hilly bit’, you gotta go . . . UP it.
Here’s the thing. . .
When you get to a ‘hilly bit’. . you need a strategy.
Like counting. One, two, three, four. . .
Like not looking up.
Like taking one step at a time.
Like distracting yourself. . . (think about dinner, or breakfast, or ice cream.)
Think about ANYTHING that’s not to do with running up hills!
Like singing a song or chanting a poem.
Like. . . anything bloody thing you can think of!!!
Just remember. . .
We are programmed to give up at the ‘hilly bit’.
Your body wants an easy life. It wants to stop this nonsense right now! This minute! It’s your mind and your will that have registered for this damn marathon. Your body had nothing to do with it. And now here you are driving it up the ‘hilly bit’. No wonder it hates you!
No wonder it screams out in protest! But you must take no notice.
No matter how much pain you feel you have to keep going. You have to over-ride this lazy brain of yours.
Find a way through.
Keep going at all costs.
Don’t let it beat you!
Finally, after much effort and grim determination you might come to realise that the ‘hilly bit’ is actually good for you. That the view at the top is almost worth the pain.
In the end the ‘hilly bit’ will be what you remember. That’s the part when you thought you were going to die! But you didn’t. You kept on going. And you survived!
The ‘hilly bit’ made you reach deep inside yourself. It forced you to grit your teeth and bloody well get there.
You faced it, bravely. Despite the odds you pushed on through.
The ‘hilly bit’ is what made that nice glass of champagne at the finish line totally worth while.
The ‘hilly bit’ is what gave you the sense of achievement.
On the other hand, the ‘hilly bit’ might have been the very thing that made you pack your bags and move to somewhere flat that has no ‘hilly bits’.
Like the Taieri Plains, for instance.
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