Image by composita from Pixabay
I sit on the front steps and lace up my shoes. I can see a swarm of bugs around the glow from a nearby streetlight. The night is completely quiet, and while others are tucking in their loved ones or getting tucked in themselves, here I am going out for a run.
I’ll think about the tough moments that I will inevitably encounter when competition time comes. I’ll think about a moment of failure and I’ll pause my mental video, rewind to the point just before failure, and replay the scene in my mind but this time with a different ending – one where I am triumphant.
I’ll imagine my hand being raised, and then I’ll imagine myself back at training. I’ll think about everything that needs to be done leading up to the fight as my focus hones in on the objective.
I exhale sharply as my feet push off the concrete sidewalk. My breath makes one rhythm; my feet hitting the pavement makes another.
For me, it doesn’t need to be long and it doesn’t need to be difficult – it just needs to get done. When I have a fight on the horizon, I have to run.
* * *
When I think about someone preparing for a fight, besides the actual fight-training, one of the first images that come to mind is running.
In fact, one of the most iconic scenes in the classic film Rocky is not actually boxing – it’s of Sylvester Stallone going for a run through the streets of Philadelphia (duh duh duhhhh, duh duh duhhhh)!
Muay Thai gyms in Thailand are known for having their fighters run every morning before training. Boxers are notorious for putting in gruelling sessions pounding the pavement leading up to big fights. Wrestlers have been known to crank up the volume and put in extra-long hours of road work preparing for meets.
Some fighters and coaches adamantly defend running as being a necessary part of fight-training. They can become almost evangelical in their support of a method of training they have grown accustomed to over time.
But advancements in the world of strength and conditioning have made it so that fighters no longer need to put in hours of road-work.
But Isn’t running great for cardio and overall fitness?
While running can be great for developing aerobic capacity (or what some refer to as simply cardio), we’ve learned over time that other types of training may be more specific to the different energy systems used in combat sports (anaerobic lactic and a-lactic systems).
High-intensity interval training and circuit training are two examples of exercise modalities that have become more popular over time than long-distance running for fight training. These examples are more appropriate for the type of energy systems used in fighting, and they save fighters some unnecessary wear and tear that often accompanies excessive road work.
But Isn’t running great for cutting and maintaining body weight?
Running is definitely an effective way to burn calories and reduce body weight. But advancements in the world of nutrition and food sciences have shown fighters that the food they eat has more of an impact on their body weight than does the number of miles they run in a day.
Sure, running can help you lose weight and increase fitness to a certain extent. In this sense, running is effective but maybe not be so efficient compared to other practices.
Now, even though I know all of these things, I can’t help but lace up my shoes and head out for a run the second I know I have a competition coming up.
What is it about running?
Running: A Moving Meditation
I know I’m not saying anything groundbreaking here, but it needs to be said regardless:
The fight game is often more mental than it is physical.
Of course, technical skills and knowledge reign supreme when it comes to preparing to win a fight. Fights are not won solely because one has a strong mind. Also, being in peak physical condition certainly doesn’t hurt your odds when a trained opponent is standing across from you.
But in order to be able to use the knowledge and skills you’ve worked so hard to acquire, and in order to have a chance to show off all of that cardio, you do in fact need to have a well-trained mind.
Running is an opportunity to go within and spend time with your thoughts, fears, and worries about the upcoming competition or fight (and about life in general). Running is an opportunity to practice visual imagery and positive self-talk related to your goals.
Putting one foot in front of the other over and over again is not as much about cutting weight or improving your aerobic capacity as it is about strengthening your mind and hardening your spirit.
Most people don’t enjoy running, and that’s part of the reason why it’s so important.
Running is a moving meditation.
Running is an opportunity to spend time alone with yourself.
Running is a chance to put in the road work, bit by bit, that will callous the mind.
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