The Optimism of Endurance
by: Michael Lo-Presti
“You’re doing what?”
That’s often the reaction I get when I tell a friend or coworker about my plans to run an ultramarathon. What sometimes follows is a conversation about the nuances of such an adventure — What do you eat? Do you run by yourself? Don’t you get bored? — and an observation about my fitness: “Wow, you must be in really good shape.”
Being in “good shape” means different things to different people. Certainly physical endurance is part of it. For something like the Cross-Connecticut Run for Mental Health Awareness taking place today, it’s hard to imagine completing all 56 miles of the route — the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail from West Suffield at the Connecticut/Massachusetts border all the way down to the New Haven shore — without logging the many miles of long training runs beforehand. Preparing the body is key.
However, preparing the mind is just as vital. When my body starts to drag after pounding the pavement or the trail for hours, the mental endurance of the mind to keep going, one step at a time, gets me through. A marathon or ultra, as in life, comes with highs and lows. One mile you’re feeling great; but the next, you can barely pick up your feet. I’ve learned over the years that, with patience and stubbornness, I can push through the low points, knowing a high point might be just around the next bend in the trailhead or at the next aid station of a race. It requires an optimism that is as essential to reaching the finish line as it is for making it through the darker or sadder days in our lives: “It may suck now, but eventually, I’ll feel better.”
To learn more about today’s Cross CT Run, visit www.mhconn.org/crossct.
