Running downhill has its advantages, but also has its lesser-known disadvantages. Advantage…we pick up speed and utilize less energy. Disadvantages, everything outside of that!
Never Quit Something You’ve Started
I have always been a believer in one thing, when you start something, you finish it. Especially when it comes to sports. I have preached it to hundreds of players I have coached, I have preached it to my own two kids.
Confession…I MAY have possibly broken my own rule once!
I grew up playing baseball, basketball, football, and wrestling. Headed into my Junior year, I decided to give Cross Country a try, mainly to get in shape for the upcoming wrestling season. Great strategy from that perspective.
The first day of summer workouts went well. Without any previous experience running long distances, I finished in the font of the pack. Day two, same result. Day three…I had an epiphany.
I don’t recall specifically, but we were running about three miles each day. About halfway through, there was a large hill. That day, I got to the top and stopped. I had a brief moment with myself and came to the realization that running was boring. Then, I turned around, walked back to the school, went straight to my vehicle, went home, and never came back!
Running Downhill
I have abandoned running for more than 15 years. I much prefer walking and hiking. Over the last few weeks, I have reincorporated running into my exercise routine.
One of the benefits of running, outside of improving fitness levels, is that it gives you plenty of time to think. As I have returned to running (some), I have encountered a few hills.
Whether I pace myself or not, uphill is always hard. As I approach the top of the hill, I eagerly anticipate the downhill. My initial thoughts are to speed up on the downhill portion and let my momentum carry me from there. That is a practical approach to the downhill.
But, there are realistic concerns about the downhill. Here are three cautions headed into the downhill portion of running and leadership:
Chest Over Knees
There aren’t a lot of sports that I have coached where I have encouraged an athletic position where the athlete’s chest gets in front of their knees. It’s bad positioning and leaves you susceptible to falling forward.
As we pick up speed running downhill, it’s easy to get our chest out in front of our knees. We easily become top heavy. If we get too far ahead of our knees, we can fall. The pavement is not very forgiving to our palms and faces!
The same is true for leadership. If we get too far out in front of ourselves, we risk falling. When we climb the proverbial mountain of leadership, there is always a downhill. If we attempt to maintain the frantic pace that got us there on the uphill, we become susceptible to stumbling.
Be aware when your chest starts to get too far forward.
Coasting
The alternative to getting our chest too far out in front of our knees is coasting. After a tough uphill climb, this is a reasonable use of the downhill. We use less energy, but don’t get anywhere any faster.
Don’t get me wrong. Coasting feels pretty good in the process. It’s comfortable. There is very little risk of falling hard, things are just safer. Safe does not improve our fitness though. It doesn’t stretch us, it doesn’t improve our time.
In leadership, coasting is the antithesis to progress. Leaders are growing or dying, there is no in between.
I’ve heard coasting described a couple of ways in leadership. One, “You never drift into good health.” Getting into better leadership health requires us stretching our limits and continuing to grow. Two, “If you are coasting, you are always going downhill.” If we grow, we won’t have the opportunity to face the downhill. Coasting is not possible on the incline, only the decline.
Burning Out
Don’t me wrong, when running downhill, you want to take advantage of the positive momentum. It is a solid strategy. Our objective, find the right pace.
Pacing is an approach to the uphill, but it should also apply to the downhill. If our pace is too high, we may not have what we need to finish the race. We can burn our bodies out well short of the finish line.
Leadership presents the same challenge…keeping the right pace. Pace in our leadership worlds are driven by chaos and opportunities. Chaos interrupts our pace by demanding all our energies being allocated towards resolving that one issue. Meanwhile, all of the other burdens we carry are still waiting at the starting blocks, ready to run that race against us.
When opportunity knocks, pace is purposeful in seizing it. Same as chaos, it demands our full attention. So, we pick up the speed, which can lead to an unsustainable pace.
Pace unmanaged, leads to burnout. Burnout keeps us from getting to the finish line of leadership.
Conclusion
That infamous day I “walked out” on Cross Country was the last day of preseason workouts. The season officially started the following week. Technically, I never made it to the start of the season. Therefore, I believe my record of not quitting a sport should still be intact!
A bonus lesson here. I just wasn’t passionate about Cross Country. Most likely, I wouldn’t have put forth my best effort and just coasted through the process. I would have failed the team and myself. Maybe I sensed the downhill was coming on that fateful day and just refused to choose that option.
Passion is the fuel that pushes us to our potential. It keeps us on the uphill and reaching the pinnacles of our progress. Absent passion, the downhill will trip us up, lure us to complacency, and burn us out.
Avoid running downhill.
