Just do it!

In my opinion, the best thing to come from Nike is this very slogan.

But when it comes to life and trail running it is a mantra I truly believe in!

At the beginning of all years, people are big on pronouncements on how that this particular year they are going to get healthy, get fit, be nice and so forth. But arguably by week two most have resorted to a factory default setting of being unhealthy, unfit, and — perhaps they are projecting — being far from nice.

Running goals are also targets. I think it is a function of the ‘look at me’ paradigm that leads many people on what ultimately proves a dispiriting, madness-promoting, and maybe mentally unhealthy direction.

I remember being with a group of inexperienced runners at a function a few years back. One particularly mouthy individual was positively foaming at the mouth chaotically about all that he was aiming to achieve in his running. His closest friend rolled his eyes in the background.

Noticing I sidled up and asked what was up?

Basically, I was told that this was typical bluster that would not be backed up with concrete actions. And so it came to pass.

Now we have all been told by myriad life coaches and gurus that we need to announce our targets to create accountability. But I think differently. Your only accountability is to yourself.

Your friends and colleagues don’t truly care if you rolled out of bed on successive early mornings to accumulate the mileage to make yourself necessarily ready to start training for an epic race — be it a fast 10 km or a mind-boggling long ultra. It’s all on you!

So…

Just do it!

Need motivation?

Check out Can’t Hurt Me the tome on a guy who truly gets it!