There is a lot of talk about fatigue, especially in this age, so hectic, syncopated: fatigue, burn out, mental load, stress. In endurance sports, however, fatigue is an intrinsic component, you cannot split it off, it would be like eliminating a part of the DNA of our sport
Text and photos Carlotta Montanera (runningcharlotte.org | IG: @runningcharlotte)
The secret of the athletes
A friend many years ago often told me that the secret of level-headed athletes is the ability to “get out of fatigue,” to feel it coming and put it aside to focus on the goal. Today, after so much time spent on marathons, uphill races with prohibitive inclines, and Hyrox races, I have developed my own thoughts on fatigue. I am certain that the true high gear we amateurs, perhaps unlike elite athletes, can achieve it the day we accept it as an old friend, the day fatigue itself makes us feel at home. Without denying it, but looking it in the face and embracing it tightly.
What is fatigue?
It is a sensitive topic, this, because there are different ways of interpreting physical fatigue. How often do we hear or read tales of running “with a smile,” relaxed and carefree? On how many occasions do we ourselves think that it is not worth the stress when we are amateurs, that the important thing is to get to the bottom? And this is how the debate among us runners starts: should we enjoy running in serenity or try to push our limits and make peace with fatigue?
Between fatigue and satisfaction
Of course, there is no single answer, and truth, even subjective truth, is nuanced. I have my own iconography of fatigue, I give it a special place in my life. In the marathon, for example, I look forward to the moment when she and I hold hands, when we look at each other like two old schoolmates and arrive at the finish line establishing a sympathetic compromise. That moment is there, around mile 30, there my marathon begins, then, when the dialogue begins. And there is no greater satisfaction for me than realizing that between mind and effort there is no war, but a sincere pact. It doesn’t always happen, though, sometimes we play prima donnas and don’t get along, we want to impose ourselves on each other and things go wrong: me trying to disown her, her putting on her high heels to tower over me. After all, it happens even between friends that we don’t understand each other, right? But we have learned to leave these squabbles for isolated cases!
Be aware
Of course, it is healthy for our runs to also be populated with light, thoughtless moments, and smiles, jokes between friends, and little-regarded GPS watches. We cannot always have fatigue by our side; often, perhaps after a long day, we like to let our minds wander and take it “easy.” But it is always the knowledge that we know how to ride fatigue, embrace it and make it a valuable ally that allows us to get out of the ring and stop living the race with serenity.
Unnecessary fatigue in sports?
In a world in which “real fatigue” is represented by social injustice, violence, exploitation, disease and poverty, it sometimes seems distracting to brag about this friendship with fatigue. At the same time, however, it is precisely sports fatigue that has taught me over the years to relativize, to give proper weight, to prioritize. It is precisely fatigue that makes me feel lucky when I run and brings me back to the concrete act of running, moving away from those tales – toxic in my opinion – about the epic of running. I am not a heroine, I have no merit, I just choose what generates sincere emotions for me.
Fatigue is cathartic
The concept of catharsis has resided in my brain since I studied Plato in high school. Catharsis means “purification” (I avoid the Greek etymology; Wiki, if you like, will help): Plato means by catharsis a cognitive process by which one is freed from the impurities of the spirit. And that is exactly how endurance sport makes me feel when it gets really hard: a liberating, cleansing act of the mind. Within that moment the superfluous falls away, I shake it off like soot. The essence remains, what really matters and carries us forward remains. Fatigue is my friend, ally, mother and sister.
Being oneself
When I look at my pictures taken in a particularly strenuous race, when I observe myself in pain, wrung out in the typical grimace of someone who is going over the energy reserve, I see myself at 100 percent. Like a mirror of Snow White, those pictures give me back the best image of me, the most real, perhaps not the most beautiful, but they have no artifice, they are purged of the superfluous, they show in the fullness of catharsis.
My conclusion
So what is the way to find our best part? To go in search of the limit or to stay within the serenity of a rainbow? Truth with a capital V does not exist, but sport helps us investigate the many facets of our diamond. Dosing our emotions and knowing how to live them to the fullest is perhaps the only sure way to build our way, whether running or not.