But sometimes I just can't manage to look at it. When I was a kid, I developed a method for dealing with hills that were larger than what I wanted to deal with. Rather than looking up at the top and being discouraged by the distance I had to go, I only looked down at the 20 feet in front of me. I figured that gave me enough time to react to anything that was on the road surface, and anything further ahead than that didn't matter to me. I just focused on the 20 feet, kept pedaling, and told myself if I kept riding the next 20 feet sooner or later I'd manage to crest the hill, no matter how tall it was.
It's been a long time since I've taken that approach to a hill, but today, on the 6th day of biking, I came to a couple of hills that caused me to revert to that. My world was no bigger than the next 20 feet. That sounds like a sad strategy for life, but I guess there are some points in life where that is the only strategy that will get me through.
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2 comments:
I refer to this as focus, and as long as it's not the only tool in your toolbox, I think it's a good thing!
There are many times on long runs where I use the same technique. Usually it's longer than 20 feet, but I just try to get another half mile or another mile and not worry about the long distance.
--Zack
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