The Home Stretch

Hi friends! Wanna know something I learned this month!?

It’s about how the end of a journey can often be the hardest part, especially when we’re finally on the home stretch.

Running out of steam 🥵

For 9,600 meters Patrick Tiernan runs bravely alongside the leaders of the pack, hunting a medal.

It's the 10,000m final of the Tokyo Olympics and we're 24 laps down. But just as the 25th and final lap begins, the Australian national record holder drifts off the pace, watching in desperation as the pack sprints away.

With just 150 meters to go - as we watch the medallists cross the finish line in exhausted celebration - Patrick rounds the bend onto the final straight with wobbling legs. Slowed to a crawl, he holds his hands to his head and stumbles to the edge of the track. As he tries to right himself, his legs finally buckle and he collapses to the ground.

Somehow he manages to pull himself up onto his feet and finish the race (much to the pride and joy of his fellow Aussies, and anyone else with a heart).

"I just ran out of steam", shares a disappointed Tiernan in his post-race interview.

The Wall 🧱

Long distance runners are well familiar with The Wall.

“At the start of the race, you are driven, motivated,” says sports scientist Candice Lingam-Willgoss. “As it goes on, fatigue takes over. A coach for any distance will say that two-thirds in is where your form drops, and your mind goes. The last part is often seen as the hardest.”

When our brain decides our race is run, it triggers a feeling of extreme fatigue. The brain tells the body it’s time to hit the wall whenever it feels the body has gone too far, too fast.

So… close 🏠

It's when they're close to home that drivers are most at risk of falling asleep at the wheel. The driver relaxes as they imagine their journey's end, and the body responds by switching over to sleepy-time. With the finish line in sight, we can trick ourselves into thinking the job is done.

Celebrating early has a cost! (My heart goes out to Irish boxer Aidan Walsh who won his quarter final bout two days after the 10,000m drama and jumped wildly in the air, went over on his ankle and was forced out of the Olympics)

Having a wobble 🥴

Lately I've been having a wobble. For 5 weeks I've been off track and feeling scattered and unmotivated. I've been stuck in procrastination mode. Trying to focus felt heavy and overwhelming. But when I consider how the end of the journey is often the hardest part, it helps me realize what's been happening and why.

I've been on my own marathon with my mental health. I've come a long way and now I'm on the home stretch. It's been a long slog and it's easy to assume I'm further along than I actually am. So it's no great surprise that I find myself falling asleep at the wheel.

Bringing it home 🐢

Marathon runners get past the wall with the resilience learned in training. “They learn to be reflective about why they don’t achieve things, they evaluate and re-set,” explains Lingam-Willgoss. "An endurance athlete pushes on through because they have their training routine”.

Drivers make it home through preparation, planning and safe practice. (Winding down the window, blasting the radio or relying on sheer willpower are false starts that fail to work.)

I'm going to help myself stay on track with a more mindful 'training routine', so I can plan for changes in pace and bumps in the road. And when I feel myself falling asleep at the wheel, instead of trying to force myself on, I'll rest, reflect and recuperate.

Thanks for stopping by 🌝

I’ll be back next monday with some more mind mash.

In the meantime, here is…