making it look easy
I recently discovered Derek Sivers fabulous blog. He is one of those people, like Seth Godin, that are good at identifying felt-but-unseen trends and truths in a simple, accessible way.
Yesterday he wrote about something that drives me up the wall when it comes to athletics, for which I didn't know there is a word: sprezzatura.“Sprezzatura” is an Italian word that means “to hide conscious effort and appear to accomplish difficult actions with casual nonchalance.”
In other words, making it look easy. All of the great outdoor athletes I know make it look easy. Not intentionally, to fool their competition or shame their friends - their training habit is so ingrained that they just don't talk about it anymore. Don't talk about the struggle to start training, keep training, get over injuries, get up early - because it's nothing remarkable. As the observer in the race, I don't see the training, I just see someone just like me blowing past me on the bike. It makes it so easy to trick myself, again and again, into thinking I can do it, too. All it takes is hours and consistency. How hard can that be? Pretty damn hard, it turns out. Again and again. Have I mentioned I've indefinitely postponed the Devils Path-Escarpment 100K?
