Christopher Cudworth

The pull of technology and checking off our efforts is strong indeed.

For all the technology available to us runners and riders these days, there is still something to be said for the good old hand-written schedule of the day’s events.

A co-worker noticed the neat list of tasks and events on my legal pad and remarked: “Do you like to check off the boxes? That’s my favorite part.”

It’s not even old school. It’s just human balance.

The pull of technology

I like Strava and my iPhone as much as the next guy or gal. Yet the visceral experience of writing down what I’m thinking or need to do each day still holds value.

Perhaps that is a direct reflection of being goal-oriented. Our goals come from within and the direct expression of that inner emotion is to somehow externalize it in the world. That way we own it. We can see it. And act upon it. And check it off the list.

Those are our checks. Our balances come from a different place in the brain. The side that wants to check off lists and rack up mileage or hours on the bike has plenty of places to find expression. Strava tracks your rides and runs. You can see how you compare to previous efforts and to those of others on the very same stretch of road. Again, those are our checks.

The push toward balance

A healthy life requires balance. The push and pull of obligations and choices can be hard to maintain.

Our balances are a bit more nebulous in origin, like knowing when to back off, and how to train and not overtrain. When we do reach those excesses, our bodies and minds send us warning signals that we too often ignore. The desire to check off that box for a 10-miler in our daily journal (however you keep it, digitally or otherwise) is sometimes too strong for common sense to negate.

So we make ourselves sick or too tired to run and ride the next day. Last summer, despite the overbearing heat we felt here in Illinois, I kept hammering away on the bike and finally hit the wall one night about 15 miles out of town. My skin started to tingle. My head felt light. Sweat evaporated. I was forced to cut a ride short and head to a country store to buy ice. Stuffed it down my shirt and rode home. Hot. Tired.

But not depressed. I learned that the human body has its limits. We learn that lesson over and over again as endurance athletes. We need balance.

Work/life balance takes planning

The same goes for work/life balance as well. When you’re working too much you risk burnout. Even that vacation in Mexico isn’t quite enough to clear the pipes sometimes. It’s the daily balance that counts. So you can’t let your checks overrun your balances.

It takes discipline and planning to achieve life balance. That may sound counterintuitive, but it’s not. If we don’t plan for downtime or schedule a break, we keep going. Type A Syndrome. Hell, Type B even commits that sin now and again. Type A does it out of drive. Type B does it out of fear. Both can be dangerous to your health.

Your running and riding may be that balance against working too much. But then you’re faced with checks and balances even in your favorite activities. If you’re running and riding right through the checks and right over the balances, give some thought to perspective. Here’s how to achieve it.

The important difference between obligation and choice

Competing for Running Unlimited meant racing 24 times in one year.

They way I separate the two is something learned during my competitive racing days. In one year I raced 24 times and won 10 races. But the pace of competitions every other week was tough to sustain. Yet I was obligated to represent a store with whom I had a contract. As a sponsored runner the obligation to run and compete was my checklist for the year. There was not much balance possible.

That next year the enthusiasm for competition had waned. Plus I was getting married and realized there were other commitments coming along that were more important than running. I still competed that year with good results, but raced a lot less. The following year we had our first child and it didn’t make much sense to be running 90 miles a week and being gone every weekend.

That was the turning point in a competitive career. But it meant balance had been restored, in many respects. We need room to pursue our obsessions and commitments. That is not what I’m saying. But the ultimate difference or the checks and balances came about when I began to understand the difference between obligatory running and that done by choice.

Now when I sense that running or riding are feeling like more of an obligation than a choice, it is apparent things might be out of balance somewhere.

Obligation. Choice. Those are our checks and balances.