Comfort

CBA to search for anything better


I have been thinking about comfort recently, specifically getting out of my comfort zone during exercise, and how that has a knock-on effect in other aspects of my life.

This past 18 months has been one long experiment of asking my body to do things it was either previously incapable, or I didn't believe I was. It doesn't matter which.

Now lectures have finished I have more free time to ride my bike. I have also been running considerably less, though that was always the plan. This poses new challenges: getting my backside used to the discomforts of long periods/successive days in the saddle, motivation to ride in all conditions, accustoming myself to the new, and different, training stress.

I love cycling -- it's definitely type one fun -- but there's always a part of me that wants to rebel against my plan. While running 5-6 days a week I wanted to cycle more. Now I am riding lots I want to run more. Rather than suppress my inner rebel, I am trying to find a balance between the two. This past week I ran twice and cycle four times. This seems a decent amount.

Back to comfort. I've never had a problem with being uncomfortable, it's something that I have always considered within my control; there are certain things beyond my control, e.g. natural talent, but how uncomfortable I'm willing to get is down to me. I can manipulate it.

I think this is a big part of why I had some success with weightlifting even though I didn't do it for very long. Things like 20-rep squats with my bodyweight on a barbell on my shoulders took a lot of mental strength, and if I didn't have it before, I certainly had it after.

And don't forget your steroids

Even when I was playing football regularly I managed to play at a good level considering my ability. There isn't a lot I could do about my ability but the mental side, and how hard I worked, I could control. Whatever happened after that would happen.

It's for this reason that I know all I need to do is convince myself something is worth doing and I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen.

We live in such an excessively comfortable society that getting uncomfortable is necessary to remember just how lucky we are. The example of Kenyan or Ethiopian children running X miles to school and back is a bit of a tired trope these nowadays, but for them it's reality. They benefit hugely by building fantastic aerobic engines and honing their running efficiency because they have to; getting out of their comfort zone is essential -- look at what some of the athletes achieve.

It isn't necessary for me, or anybody reading this, to leave my comfort zone. I could quite easily go months, or even years without leaving my comfort zone, yet look at what can be achieved by regularly getting uncomfortable.

Next time when I am out on a long ride/run, the rain is lashing down and my motivation starts to wither I will think about how out of my comfort zone I am, and I'll smile* because I know I'll benefit from being uncomfortable.

*I definitely won't smile.

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