Hey Reader,

My co-host shared something on this week’s pod that really got me thinking.

She was talking about a 10k race she recently did with her partner.

She’s fitter than him.

She trains properly, follows a plan, and she’s been building her fitness back up after injury.

He barely trained for the race.

She finished the race ahead of him, but only by about five seconds a kilometre.

That’s like next to nothing.

And she’s like, “I should be absolutely smoking him.”

She had a conversation with him and realized that every time the race started to hurt, or she felt tired, she slowed down out of fear.

But he already expected it to hurt, so when it got hard, he told himself it’s fine, and just kept going.

I found that really interesting.

🧠 “Every defeat is psychological until death”

When you’re deep in something hard, the mind can get really clever.

Like, you prepare so well for something.

Then the moment finally comes, and it starts to feel hard sooner than expected.

Your mind will think up these amazingly clever reasons why it is imperative, and even life threatening to stop right now.

It’s funny how quickly the mind can put so much fear in us.

And then those silly sabotage thoughts come.

You think you’re not as ready as you thought, or you’re already f*cked.

But no, the mind just interpreted that pain as something to panic over.

Or this big failure to watch out for.

When in fact, you’re still as capable as ever.

If you always mistake discomfort for danger, you’ll never fully use the training and experience you’ve worked so hard to get.

You’ll never really achieve your potential.

❤️ Head for the pain cave

I always say this: if you’re chasing something great that matters to you, it’s going to get hard at some point.

You’re going to feel the suffering.

Courtney Dauwalter, one of the greatest ultrarunners ever, calls that place the pain cave.

She says getting to the pain cave is the whole point.

Like, you already know it’ll get hard, and you still chose to pursue it anyway.

So you have to accept it too.

When you embrace the pain early on, and not read unnecessary meaning into it, your brain won’t easily interpret it as danger.

You know that hard doesn’t mean you’re running out of ability.

You know it’s fine, and you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Because it’s meant to be hard.

Your mind is clear enough to focus and find a way through, no matter what it takes.

You just keep going.

Unstoppable and unfuckwithable.

So what are you finding difficult right now?

What are you so afraid is going to happen?

What if nothing really has gone wrong?

You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

As Brené Brown once said: “You can choose courage or you can choose comfort, but you can’t have both. Not at the same time.”

It’s meant to be hard.

But you sure can achieve it.

So keep going.

You’ve got this.

With appreciation,

Huw

P.S: We got into all of this on the pod this week.

I also shared my biggest adventure yet. Something I’m genuinely excited about, but also looking forward to the pain cave (lol), and a bunch of other fun stuff.

Take a listen here.

Ep 18. Soft Rock is here! Pl... Jul 21 · Two Average Runners 54:34   ​

Huw Edwards Founder & CEO, h3.xyz​

Our next episode drops on Tuesday

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