Embrace Uncertainty

MUSINGS FROM A COACH - 28 OCTOBER '25

This past weekend we had friends in town, one of whom has over 20 years of outdoor leadership experience and is certified in everything from Wilderness First Responder and Single Pitch Instructor (American Mountain Guides Association) to an AIARE Professional Level 2 Avalanche practitioner and Advanced Swiftwater Rescue. The guy is Mr. Idaho, and there's not a minute spent with him that I'm not learning or laughing.

As typical, we got to chatting about teaching experiences, and he spoke about the seemingly rampant anxiety that many school kids he teaches have. He told me that he really tries to encourage the kids to "embrace uncertainty". He promotes this philosophy of being bold and experiencing life - not recklessly, but freely with the knowledge that we don't always know the outcome.

Well, of course, I immediately think of the challenge that many of us in endurance sports face when approaching a big event, or even a block of challenging training. You know that feeling that can fester in our minds and generate questions before a big race like:

Will I be able to complete this event?

What if the plan goes south?

What if I fail?

Or even the more insidious questions and doubts that crop up during the season over our progress in training:

Am I getting stronger and faster?

Will I reach my goals?

Should I be doing something different?

While these feelings may always be in the back of our minds, it's the acknowledgment of these uncertainties that can allow us to fully engage in what we are doing at the moment. Yes, we don't know the outcomes - how can we? So what do we know?

As endurance athletes, we know what we do is hard and that we love to do it. We know that consistency of intention on a daily basis reinforces our self awareness of who we are - both as an athlete and person. And it's that self awareness that allows us to move forward into that sometimes void of uncertainly without being held back by anxiety. We just need to keep reminding ourselves that everything will be just fine, and that we should embrace uncertainty and not fear it.

Dating myself, these lyrics come to mind from a famous song by the band, Incubus...

The world's a rollercoaster

And I am not strapped in

Well, maybe I should hold with care

But my hands are busy in the air...