Mental calluses

Go for a run, endure the workout; wake up and repeat. Accumulate tiredness over the days, then rest for a day and commence again. Over and over, again and again, the cycle continues.

Physical changes will appear and are easy to notice. Body fat melts, more veins appears, some gauntness, a little muscle here and there with a visible permanence of fatigue.

What about the mind during all this? It must be changing too if we are willing it day in, day out to instruct the limbs to move faster, slower, climb a hill, stop, repeat, drink water, race, receive the pain, ignore pain, focus, eat etc. 

There must be a lot of emotional callus in this process. Ever growing, ever hardening and layering up to ensure that the workouts continue but forever invisible unlike the calluses on our feet and hands.

During a run, I can imagine the mind executing its own separate workout which is connected to the physical workout, yet unconnected since the mind is working hard only to send instructions to the limbs. It is not a part of the physicality and momentum of the limbs; it is the creator and owner of both.

The effort is perceivable in the limbs and other organs but the mind is also steadily getting tired. It is also working out. All the instructions and all those thoughts, travelling at light speed through the nerves in order to reach the limbs and then travelling back with news of pain and ecstacy.

The brain can’t idle. It is and has to be hyperactive so that it can supplement the “will” to finish a workout and coordinate the limbs and other organs.

Even at race pace the limbs are moving like a snail, since their master is managing an orchestra of millions of neural musicians in a span of milliseconds. Working, overworking, stressing and beautifully managing all the thoughts which create the physical momentum. The mind thoughtfully caresses and convinces the limbs to carry on but also shows its wrath when the limbs slow down and attempt to disobey it. Sometimes it loses the battle with the limbs but usually it ensures that the goal is achieved. It must be tough work and every workout must be making the mind stronger and more callused.

I've recently experienced how these mental calluses accumulate and help over time. A few days ago, three of us ran our personal best with a lot less training and worse physical fitness than last year for the same race.

The calluses in the mind allowed us to ignore the pain. 

Our minds have become cruel over time, but only for the good.