The cold hard truth.
Dripping with wetty I plunged into the freezing depths of the unknown.
It never ceases to amaze me just how impressionable I am. I’ve grown up thinking it was a curse, knowing that my opinions would always mimic the last person I spoke to. But over time I’ve come to recognise this as a gift that can be utilised- if you make sure the only people you hang around with are exceptional inspirational people it’s no longer an issue!.
Recently I met an inspiring young man named Mario (try saying that without thinking of Luigi). It’s actually impossible. Try! – his story was unreal… he literally actually gets up at 4am every morning, runs 5km in sub 20 comes Home and jumps instantly into a freezing cold shower (that’s freezing shower at 4:25am if my maths + open door shoes off time is factored in. Wtf. (He does this because he’s a music manager in the morning before work, then a startup founder post work alongside being a musician himself! – what a legend. What an inspiration.
He swore by the shower – the benefits of it being your muscles are able to circulate blood better and you recover quicker. I needed some of that. Funny enough (except I wasn’t laughing) I’d been doing the polar opposite – treating (the only one left!) myself to the hottest baths and showers as a reward for my runs. Completely utterly the wrong thing to do. What a tool.
This Morning I woke (no shit!) and by pure chance it was 4:30 – damn Mario must have been home already – regardless I was excited about finally being able to run again (I’d taken the last few days off) so I laced up the New New Balance (how slickness is this fitness) and headed out in a truly energised mood. Yesterday was low but today after refuelling and accepting that recovery is in fact actually part of training I was ready to take on 12 miles (I wanted to do 13 but I run without looking at the distance as it’s more fun to get used to mileage guestination – I wasn’t far off!)
Find your Mario moment.
The driver was in fact the knowledge that when I got back I was gonna have an ice cold shower – a new addition to the stable. Knowing just how bad but Just how good it would be drove me. I love trying new ideas to drive my game up.
Fuck me. Don’t do it. Don’t. Actually don’t don’t – Just do it. Which means it’s painful (he assures me in 1 month I will get used to it lol!) but it was refreshing and even if it actually did zero, psychologically I felt even better than if I’d just had the high of the Run. Felt like a new accomplishment.
A combination of the sheer excitement of the cold shower prize plus the days off and he carbs I’d been consuming meant I broke into a new stride and took my speed level up another dash – damn that Mario! He’s an inspirer! Thanks man.
Be inspired by those around you – inspiration is everywhere. Find your Mario moment.
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