Tuesday, May 5, 2009

"P" Words

Progress! Persistence! Perseverance!

Phooey.


I've always been a little proud of my ability to learn quickly. However, as I gain life experience, I realize that one of the problems with being smart in this way is that when faced with a challenge, I don't have a lot of practice in handling it. Add perfectionism to the mix and any challenge can seem impenetrable. How do I even begin? I was thinking yesterday that I've got some activities going right now that are not progressing, and it's frustrating me.


My running. I feel stuck in a rut. I've been trying to move past my latest interval (10-3-10), but can't quite seem to find the strength. The next step is to run for 25 minutes with no breaks, and that just seems really long and difficult. Is it a mental thing, or a physical thing? I can't tell.


My piano. I feel like I've lost track of the song, in all the notes. I'm trying so hard to play all the notes that there's no musicality. It hasn't clicked for me yet. In this area, I'm definitely psyching myself out. I'm thinking too hard.


Maybe I have to let go of wanting to improve, in order to improve. Any thoughts?

3 comments:

Dave said...

Regarding the running. Have you looked at your diet? Maybe the next level of exertion needs some energy that you're not consuming, not absorbing, or not converting.

My nutrition knowledge is limited to what I read in a book by Lance Armstrong's coach Chris Carmichael called _Food for Fitness_ (http://www.foodforfitness.net/). It was pretty focused on cycling as the target sport, but I think Carmichael sees the book as having a broader application.

Maybe there's a running-specific nutrition book out there that could be helpful?

Anonymous said...

yes you think too much. Just have fun!-Jamie

Anonymous said...

In all learning, there are plateaus one reaches where things don't seem to be happening. If you keep plugging away, you'll move forward eventually. In other words, it's not a steady climb, but a series of plateaus.