People often ask me what I think about when I am running. Typically the answer is something banal like how far I have run or how far I have yet to go, and that is typically the sort of thing I think about when I am running. Today, however, about 35 minutes into a 10-mile progressive run today I began to drift into thought when a single word came to mind: Hupomone (hoop-om-on-ay). Thinking of this word made me consider my last 12 months of training and how I, and others, approach training on a daily basis.
I should start with an explanation of what this goblty-goop actually is, Hupomone is the Greek word that is translated in the Bible as ‘patience,’ but that translation is not quite fair. Hupomone is more than patience in the sense that we are used to thinking of it, like a casual waiting or hunkering down to wait out a storm or bad times. It is much more active. A Greek dictionary will give you words like steadfastness, endurance, constancy, and perseverance. These words demonstrate the active sense of the Greek word. Now this does not mean that one should fight circumstances per se, but they should except what is presented before them and trust that things will come together as long as you continue to actively pursue your goals.
Too many times in my career, I have been bogged down by one bad race or a few rough workouts. In college I was always good at shrugging off a bad workout and moving on without allowing it to affect my next workout or race. I always allowed running to be a process and endured daily training as a chance to elevate fitness not a chance to run a pr on my tempo loop or in mile cut downs. If those things came, so be it, but if they didn’t it was fine too. Since I have become a professional runner I have slowly become more and more aware of my workouts and the times I am running. Too often I have found myself wondering how I will compete with this runner or that runner if I can’t manage X time on a particular workout. It’s for this reason that I started pondering the word hupomone on my run today.
In reflecting on my last few years, I decided that I need to exercise more hupomone in my training by recognizing training for what it is and allowing it to affect me as it will, to trust that things will fall into place and let the process of training happen without fighting it the entire way.
I should start with an explanation of what this goblty-goop actually is, Hupomone is the Greek word that is translated in the Bible as ‘patience,’ but that translation is not quite fair. Hupomone is more than patience in the sense that we are used to thinking of it, like a casual waiting or hunkering down to wait out a storm or bad times. It is much more active. A Greek dictionary will give you words like steadfastness, endurance, constancy, and perseverance. These words demonstrate the active sense of the Greek word. Now this does not mean that one should fight circumstances per se, but they should except what is presented before them and trust that things will come together as long as you continue to actively pursue your goals.
Too many times in my career, I have been bogged down by one bad race or a few rough workouts. In college I was always good at shrugging off a bad workout and moving on without allowing it to affect my next workout or race. I always allowed running to be a process and endured daily training as a chance to elevate fitness not a chance to run a pr on my tempo loop or in mile cut downs. If those things came, so be it, but if they didn’t it was fine too. Since I have become a professional runner I have slowly become more and more aware of my workouts and the times I am running. Too often I have found myself wondering how I will compete with this runner or that runner if I can’t manage X time on a particular workout. It’s for this reason that I started pondering the word hupomone on my run today.
In reflecting on my last few years, I decided that I need to exercise more hupomone in my training by recognizing training for what it is and allowing it to affect me as it will, to trust that things will fall into place and let the process of training happen without fighting it the entire way.