Good lunch run today (http://www.strava.com/activities/127930166). Full value with ride commute on both ends of the day. I took it easy on ride home and thought about a friend when I rode past these guys cleaning out a big powerboat on a trailer. We were skiing around Durango one year and drove past a house (going toward Silverton) with a “for sale” sign on a boat and another sign with “horses for sale”. Same house.  Lesson: don’t ever buy a boat and don’t ever buy a horse.

My stride felt super rad today, I was pressing hard and it got me thinking about the difference between “pushing” and “pressing”. A push is a static movement, single serving, results may vary. There is no fluidity to a push. A lot of times you think about “pushing” yourself hard, or “pushing through” … but it’s the wrong way to think about it. In endurance sports, it’s more important to “press”. Sounds weird, but when I think about the “press”, it’s a dynamic movement.

pres·sure
1. the continuous physical force exerted on or against an object by something in contact with it.

When you get out of bed in the morning, you press the earth away from your feet, when you run, you’re pressing down to escape gravity. The important thing to learn is to modulate the press. Sometimes you press lightly, sometimes press really hard. To be in motion constantly, you always have to press. “Always be pressin'”.

Running a steep hill, I’m always thinking press, not push. Maybe it’s more a philosophical difference, but it works for me.