Recently I began running with one of my dogs, Luca. He’s
used to regular 2-3 hours hikes and running around during those hikes. The
steady, quicker paced run is a little different for him and I’ve been working
him into longer runs.
About a month ago I took Luca for a 10.5 mile run which turned
out to be about 1:50. That was certainly Luca’s longest run and he did well.
About 90 minutes into the run I saw a squirrel ahead on the trail, and I’m sure
Luca saw it as well since he was running right next to me. I had an instant
question – I wonder if Luca will chase the squirrel? With that came an almost
instant answer, probably not, he’s probably pretty tired.
Luca proved me wrong as soon as the thought came through; he
was off sprinting uphill to chase that squirrel and bounded right into the
woods to find the tree it had scampered up. Scanning the trees and barking he
was enjoying himself.
Luca didn’t ask how tired he was, he probably didn’t care
that to chase the squirrel he had to go uphill, he had no concern about how
much farther till the end of the run or how to recover. Luca just went. Pure
instinct, no question, no thought. (Or at least that’s what I imagine.)
The question I asked from the Mental Strength post was; how to draw on or access whatever strength there is?
Maybe that’s where we get in trouble – when we start asking
questions of what we’re capable of, or how to access it. Instead if we just
follow what Luca did and just went for it. Relying on instinct and our gut to
gather the strength and resources we have to use them.
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