Rucking, strength for two, and "that's like me"
Reading time: 3 – 4 min
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Yesterday was the third annual TNT & Friends New Year's Day hike.
It's a tradition that began a little over two years ago when KG and Cindy, two hiking club regulars, decided that they wanted to do something awesome, challenging, and epic on New Year's Day 2022: hike 22 miles, in tribute to the year.
So just after sunrise on January 1st, a group of current and former TNT members and friends headed north from the southern end of the Monches segment of the Ice Age Trail (IAT).
Most people hadn't planned to hike the entire 22 miles, so vehicles were stashed at parking areas along the way. Each time we reached one of those spots we high-fived, said goodbye for the day, and then headed home or continued on.
Sometime well after dark — after dealing with a windy trek through open fields in the Holy Hill segment (with snow blowing directly into our faces), frozen fingers, and a brief backtrack at the start of the Pike Lake segment (because we temporarily lost the trail) — KG, Cindy, and I finally reached my car.
We high-fived in celebration of accomplishing our goal before driving back to their car at the start of the Monches segment and parting ways for the day.
Since we had agreed to carry on the tradition, last year's hike was a 23-mile out-and-back trek on the Scuppernong and Eagle segments of the IAT. Seven people started the hike, and six completed the entire distance.
While the weather was warmer than the year before, we still experienced a few challenges: namely, hiking through some wet, marshy areas and finishing in the dark without headlamps (but with a full moon... and howling coyotes 👍👍😱).
Which brings me to this year's hike.
For over a year I had joked (but was actually quite serious) that 2050 was not far away and that I had no interest in hiking 50 miles. So a few weeks ago on a weekly hiking club outing I offered an alternative: "Let's hike half the distance of the year but carry weights in our backpacks (i.e. rucking) that are challenging for each of us in order to 'make up for' the reduced distance."
Fortunately, everyone seemed to think that was a good idea.
So yesterday six people (and a dog) hiked for 5½ hours along a 12-mile section of the IAT — from Mauthe Lake to the Sunburst Ski Area parking lot — carrying backpacks filled with weights that were challenging for each of us.
And that brings me to the three main points I want to make today:
1. While we took plenty of short breaks for food, water, and rest, the hike was still tough. But that challenge is exactly what made each of us feel like we accomplished something worthwhile.
It's also part of the reason that we lift heavy things in the first place: so that we can be strong enough to do and overcome (fun) challenges and subsequently experience that sense of accomplishment.
2. "Being strong" means more than developing just physical strength. That's certainly a part. But being strong also means cultivating mental and emotional characteristics used to benefit others.
Case in point: The weight that I carried turned out to be near the high end of the "challenging for each of us" scale. And more than a few times throughout the hike, everyone else offered to help carry some of it even though they were carrying their own load.
If a willingness to share a burden on top of your own isn't a good definition of strength, then I don't know what is.
3. While I was grateful for the offers of assistance, I ultimately declined. When needed, asking for and being willing to accept help is a mark of strength in and of itself. And it's one that we probably all need to cultivate more (I know I certainly do).
But I also knew that I was plenty capable of carrying the weight that I had. And though my face likely portrayed my discomfort — hence at least part of the reason for the offers of assistance in the first place — I was using the experience to practice a mindset-training exercise that I learned from a book written by an Olympic gold medalist.
In With Winning In Mind, Lanny Bassham presents the idea that we act in ways that align with our self-image. He also suggests that one method for changing or reinforcing our self-image is to say to ourselves "that's like me" after we do something that's representative of the self-image we want.
"That's like me to seek out challenge. When I find it, that's like me to deal with discomfort. That's like me to overcome the challenges I encounter. That's like me. That's like me. That's like me."
In the moment, I may have preferred to offload some weight. But I knew that the self-image of accepting help when I didn't truly need it wouldn't help me with some physical (and mental) tests that I have planned for later this year. And being prepared to pass those tests was more important than my temporary physical discomfort.
Putting it into practice
What goals or challenges have you set for yourself this year? Is strength development — physical, mental, and emotional — a part of your training plan to prepare? And does your self-image match up with the type of person who not only takes on similar goals and challenges but also achieves or overcomes them?
If not, that's OK. We all need to start somewhere!
And if so, that's great! We can all improve somewhere as well! 😉
So, either way, this week take special notice of when you do the things that move you in the direction of your goals, and follow up with a "that's like me".
And when you do the things that move you away from your goals (which we all do at least occasionally), consider taking another piece of Lanny's advice: Instead of ruminating on where you made a suboptimal choice, go back to the moment before you took action and rehearse in your mind making a better choice. Then follow that up with a "that's like me". (Our brains are smart... but they also still respond to visualization and mental rehearsal as well as actions performed in reality.)
Whatever the current shape of your self-image, repeating those three simple words at appropriate times will only make it stronger.
Until next week,
Ryan
P.S. Check out some new TNT apparel like this on the website...