Unlike HTFU the above acronym does not have its own line of clothing, incorporated into The Rules or being throw about on your average coffee ride. You won’t even find it on Google.

Meanwhile every magazine cover has their version of the “12 weeks to your best Ironman”. Completely unrealistic time lines and gradients to get a result out of yourself.  Beyond yourself.

In contrast Jiro Ono requires his apprentices to train for 10 years plus, go through 200 plus attempts at the simple egg sushi before the standard is reached. That is no mean feat and separates the men from the boys. It seems that your 10 000h is only the entry exam. Ultimately there are no short cuts.

The focus is on process. The struggle is real only if you lose focus and think of the end result.

Meticulous attention to what you are doing every day. In your training, relationships and life.

If you have to compare, compare yourself to yesterday. Compare yourself to the process.

A friend of mine recently did her first 5km, then 10km and now is steadily increasing mileage to complete her first half marathon. We have all been there. If we are honest we have all faced the inevitable collapse in some form or other. Some injury or other forced us to slow down. Or we have lost enthusiasm and taken up chess.

So why not Slow The F… Down?

Rather than building the highest sky scraper in town as quickly as possible build a solid foundation. Meticulous attention to every detail. Building an unshakeable base. Building something solid. Doing the best you can before moving on.

Why not try to run your best 10km before moving on?

Oh “Because it is hard!” you say. Well that is the point.

Maybe STFD does not mean take it easy, quite the opposite. It means do the work, all the work. You have a life of progress ahead of you.