Hitting the Wall? I can relate........Bonk!

Relatable: (but more commonly experienced by endurance athletes) "Sudden fatigue caused by depletion of glycogen stored in the liver and muscles...milder instances can be remedied by brief rest and/or the ingestion of food or drinks containing carbs..." Hitting the wall, sometimes also referred to as 'bonking'.

       We have all had times in our respective lives where, even with advanced preparation and due diligence, we experience an acute period of weariness, fatigue, and malaise, feeling like we are suddenly up against an immovable, impermeable object, a WALL. Whether you are experiencing this literally in a physical sense as described above or more emotionally, you're in good company. Even in an 'ordinary' year (whatever that means to you) more people tend to complain of feeling fatigued this time of year, after so much time and energy was spent on holiday prepping, midnight wrapping, angst over assembly instructions and the invariable missing part, or having to make another trip to the store for that ingredient you thought you had at home. Add to this a huge layer of COVID circumstances (vicissitudes, you thought you saw the last of this word?) and no wonder I have been hearing more of you admit to a set of physical and emotional symptoms that collectively allow you, too to experience this phenomenon, of hitting a wall. 

Going Viral, Commencing: In 2015, a retired Navy SEAL (Admiral William H. McRaven) approached the graduating class at the University of Texas with "...top ten things from Navy SEAL training all college graduates need to know..." with a bit of hesitation, unsure whether a group of teens and young adults could relate to such rigor. Well, as many of you know by now, the speech went viral, and he then shared it with millions of us who devoured it in book form ("Make Your Bed"). Many lessons from the training of the elite of the elite, applicable to all our lives, especially when we are feeling fatigued, self pity, and/or tempted to give up. He reminds us we are capable of more than we think.

       In 1979, following a period of 'casual' long distance running with my friend and running buddy, Tim, we came upon an idea (not sure who first concocted this crazy scheme) of training for a marathon, which was becoming a major milestone at that time. What I will share here is only the parts of both training and the 'wall' experience that I think have the most universal application for what a lot of you are experiencing now, for the 'road ahead' we are most likely continue to experience for at least the near future. Ideas and practical examples that I hope will assist in sustaining you for the 'long haul'...

Get Out of Bed: While it may appear I am flirting with plagiarism, I have long been emphasizing how, even experienced and dedicated athletes (or musicians, or people in any vocation they are passionate about), experience times where they are reluctant to get started on any given day. In this context, the question I ask people, "Do you think an Olympic swimmer enjoys jumping in a cold pool first thing in the morning?" is invariably followed by a successful induction that motivation comes from doing -- you have to get started,  you have to get going... (NIKE!). While it doesn't take years to form such a routine, neither does it take just a few weeks--several months is more realistic.

SOS, Buddies: If you are to sustain efforts toward a goal, including breaking through the proverbial wall, it is instrumental to Seek Out Support, and/or to find a buddy to train with. I remember very clearly how many friends and family were helpful in asking "How's that training going?", as well as times when either my running buddy or me would make the phone call "You're ready to go, right?". Such people provide the elements of both support and accountability, crucial for long term training and sustainability. These elements were also contained in the encouraging cheers from even strangers lining the streets of the marathon route: "Looking good...you can do this...this is what you trained for...you're almost there...don't give up now...". 

Taking Aid, Replenishment: Part of training as well as successful completion for a long term goal, is taking time out to refuel, refill your personal reservoir. While it seemed like a trivial thing in the initial training (i.e., learning how to literally take a drink of water on the run or ingest any type of energy enhancing substance), when we attended an orientation the eve before the marathon, veterans emphasized "Make sure you stop at every aid station and drink". Despite these admonitions, I had to learn the hard way. For many of you, I know you haven't had the luxury to take time out for yourselves lately to replenish. But what I hope you can at least pause and reflect on what you can do for yourself in order to sustain your efforts on the part of your family (or patients, or students, or...). You need to eat, drink, and find respite in one form or another, in order to be of any use to anyone else.

Long Haul, Short Time - New Mileage, Old Legs: Still vividly experienced, in our first marathon we (my friend and I) both shared the experience of hitting the wall, which for me was about the time our training manual and other runners had predicted (i.e., around the 20 mile mark). It is noteworthy that the training manual we followed discouraged running the entire distance before our first marathon, instead only about 21/22 miles about ten days prior-- we wondered after whether the authors had a twisted sense of humor, not wanting to 'rob' us of such a 'privilege' of running up against such an immense sense of fatigue that I could not even account how I suddenly found myself walking and, just as bewildered as to how I got myself running again. But we realized the 'madness in the method' the second time around where just the anticipation of 'the wall' helped and enabled me to keep running the entire time (there are even some mocked up walls along some marathon routes that allow to literally cross the threshold). Which has transferred into so many other settings and experiences in life since, not limited to physical challenges, such as writing my doctoral dissertation (still trying to find a way to apply this to when my patience is wearing thin, an ongoing challenge). Soldiers and incarcerated individuals also often testify as to the 'hazards' encountered as their time of deployment or incarceration is coming to a close (aka 'short time'), with many superstitions and psychological strategies to guard against premature celebrations. Many ER and related professionals have testified how many bad things can happen near an end of a shift, especially if one grows weary, becomes unfocussed. Regarding our current circumstances, I have experienced many of you trying to find ways to regain traction after growing weary from the marathon you have been running, after getting your hopes up for a vaccine, only to then experience delays and/or complications, as well as being told you may have to keep 'running' (i.e., sustain pandemic precautions, including some forms of distancing, beyond the original projections). 

(Re) Dedicate: Whenever I find myself in moments of fatigue and/or feeling sorry for myself, I find it useful to dedicate a set (in working out), a mile, or whatever task is confronting me to someone who literally is unable due to either physical, mental, or social circumstances. They don't even have to know, but it always works it getting me outside of myself. It can and will work for you as well. There are a multitude of people who would gladly run a mile in your shoes.

Procrastinate: Quitting, that is. In another SEAL training book, the author detailed what psychological strategies successful candidates utilized in pushing through what they previously believed were their physical boundaries. One I found most compelling was the procrastination of giving up: he readily acknowledged that every rotation was worse than the one previous and that "I'll quit tomorrow but I might as well finish this one". I now realize I was in part depending on this type of coping in the first marathon in particular by keeping myself in motion the last six miles ("the last six feel like the first twenty"). You can certainly relate to such a metal and physical phenomenon these days, can't you? 

LSD, Fartlek: Long Slow Distance, a term appealing to early marathon trainees, has to do with not worrying about speed, which will eventually take care of itself -- initially, just try to keep moving (i.e., a mind and body in motion...) for a sustained period of time (now I finally get the story of the tortoise and the hare!). Fartlek (Swedish for "speed play") has to do with how varying your speed and terrain can help to alleviate boredom and enhance training, as well as in a long race like a marathon (very helpful to me still). Variety, that is, to combat the kind of boredom so many of you are complaining of. Even in these times of reduced opportunities, as I have reminded you and me in several previous posts, "we are primarily limited by our imaginations and willingness". Disclaimer: I realize you can't always determine your pace of events that come at you, nor the terrain you may find yourself in lately. However, as Viktor Frankl, Randy Pausch, Florence Nightingale, and a host of others have taught us, you can't always choose the circumstances (or cards you're dealt according to Pausch), but we always have a choice as to how we engage them.

The Walls of Our Lives: In "The Last Lecture", which was to sadly become his written legacy, Randy Pausch reminds us that "...the walls are there for a reason...not to keep us out but to remind us how badly we want something...there to stop people who don't want it badly enough..." Lately, many of us have not only felt like we are walled out  but also in. No matter where or what type of wall, as Pausch reminds us, we can either go under, over, around it, find others to help us over, or we can also walk away (with eventual regret). We can all relate, as well as benefit from the experience of others in pushing through these challenging times, our individual and collective walls. I will continue to utilize this space accordingly, until we reach the finish line together.