Because You Can't, You Won’t, and You Don't Stop

We're well into our season of marathon training now, and have been focusing on hills.  This is highly advisable since in complete contrast to my Phoenix marathon, San Francisco will have plenty of nice steep hills to break up the landscape.  Hills represent an extra challenge, a call to push yourself a little harder to overcome the resistance that will try to hold you back.

I often forget to watch out for hills.  They're out there, everywhere, some longer or steeper than others.  At times they may seem easily surmountable until you find yourself in the middle somewhere, dreading the idea of continuing on but not wanting to give up.  And just like with everything else, you can't stop once you've started, as you have no other option but to continue on.  While it seems more natural to try to avoid them as much as possible, and actively seeking hills may seem slightly insane, it's necessary to prepare yourself the best you can for what lies ahead.  Putting in the effort ahead of time, as well as you can anticipate, is the ideal method of preparation.  It's not a guarantee, as we will always encouter unexpected challenges, but is necessary for improvement and survival.  Lessons learned the hard way in advance build the necessary response skills for the rough patches ahead.

Once you've hit your hill you've got to dig in and give it everything.  Push forward, remembering that pain is temporary and the will to conquer burns deep.  Keep putting one foot in front of the other, little by little as you can stand it to keep going.  Because you can't, you won't, and you don't stop.  All such obstacles can be conquered with the will to continue on.