3/2: extreme training

My brother & I talked this evening on the phone, and we discussed the similarities between the mental training my students are undergoing in learning Greek & the physical training he undergoes in preparing for extreme racing events (like Ironman challenges or 100-mile runs across the desert). There are a lot of parallels (believe it or not), and he gave me some advice to pass on to my students. I think that they are so used to hearing advice from my perspective that some encouraging words of wisdom from another person will be really welcome.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

helping my daughter find her strength and clarity in dealing with some difficult issues in her relationship

Unknown said...

I do hope you are feeling better!

100 mile runs across the desert? Now that is extreme! I'd love to know what the advice is :-)

RR said...

Yeah, it was a little silly of me not to mention the actual advice! He had two things: 1. Be adaptable. Have multiple strategies for getting through, and be aware enough of circumstances to realize when one strategy isn't working so you can switch to another. People who try to power through with a single approach burn out and often don't make it. 2. As soon as you recognize that something isn't working, stop it and change it. Waiting only compounds issues and makes the original problem more difficult to remedy. As I type this out I'm realizing that these bits of advice are generally applicable to Life Itself not just the realms of extreme racing & ancient Greek.... But I suppose that in Greek & racing the effects of not following this advice have very quick & very quickly noticeable consequences.

(And I'm feeling a bit better, Sam--thanks for asking!--but not 100%.)