The first mile
Whether it is the first mile in running or the first few miles in biking or even the first 200 yards in swimming, it is hard. And I mean sometimes breathlessly and fatiguingly hard. It is normal. As a cardiologist and a triathlete allow me to explain.
The first mile is the hardest because the body demands a rapid increase of blood flow ergo oxygen to the entire body. And so the amount of blood that needs to pumped by the heart aka the cardiac output has to change quickly . The Cardiac output is the product of Herat rate and the stroke volume ( the blood pumped out per beat or contraction ). When we start to exercise the metabolic requirements of the body’s muscles can dramatically go up 50 to 75 fold. So therefore to meet this demand BOTH the heart rate and stroke volume have to increase expediently.
The body prioritizes where the blood has to go, so for example the brain, the muscles of legs and arms etc are top of the list versus the stomach. Eventually during maintenance of the workout, the other organs are per fused evenly. The lungs also then play a vital role to exchange more oxygen as the heart rate rises and get rid of more carbon dioxide. The elevated stroke volume supplies the oxygen rich blood to the required organs and clears toxic materials just as fast. An elegant system. The mismatch of demand and supply and getting the heart rate and stroke volume to sync up is what makes it perceived as “hard”. The “ first mile” may only be a few minutes not necessarily the actual mile depending on someone’s conditioning. The more we exercise the better adapted we become to the workouts and the more adjusted we become.
so as the first mile is the hardest on the body, the last mile I find to be the hardest on the mind. I have always experienced the last mile to be my “hardest”. A deep desire to give up and stop as my mind tells me that the body is tired and screaming to stop, where in actuality it is just the mind noise that is in a state of bewilderment. At the very notion that I have a mile left to go or even just seeing the finish line in the distance I am desired to abruptly stop and rest, but I do not. A sigh of exhaustion occurs as I see the finish line and premature relief. This is the mind game.
But exercising the heart in the first mile and training the mind in the last mile is not unlike our daily exploits or when we want to tackle a difficult task. We hesitate, procrastinate and frustrate as our “ hearts “ are not engaged or warmed up with the task unless it is inspiring to us. Anything that is inspiring we are already adapted and ready to complete without question.
A pre warm up exercise to get the heart rate up and significant hydration to boost our stroke volume is always advised. A similar mental warm up prior to embarking on a daunting mission is best approached by seeing how the task will serve us. Clearing up of doubts, judgments and fears surrounding it allows the clarity of purpose to be revealed.
We each must persevere the start and endure the race of life by going the distance, but getting across the finish line and not giving up till the end is key, in any walk of life.
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I love you
