According to a study published online Aug. 20, 2009 in Current Biology, our human navigation systems are woefully inadequate in situations where absolute landmarks such as the sun, moon, or a distant geographic landmark are not visible. Absent these bearing markers, we almost all tend to wander in circles, even unintentionally backtracking. In other words, get lost in a dense forest on a cloudy day and there's a good probability your travel track will describe a circle. In extreme cases, the test subjects wandered in a circle as tight as 66 feet in diameter, about the length of a basketball court.
Says Jan Souman of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany: "People cannot walk in a straight line if they do not have absolute references, such as a tower or a mountain in the distance or the sun or moon, and often end up walking in circles."
At the recent running of the Texas Independence Relay, a couple of runners on my Mid-Texas Symphony team committed momentary navigation bobbles while on the run. One runner took a wrong turn, went about half mile off the course, then turned around to correct his error. The other runner was not so lucky, ending up running an additional 3 miles on what should have been about a 6 mile leg. Running in the twilight of early morning on a trail, rather than a street, the runner panicked when she failed to see route markers. At that point she made the mistake of turning around, thinking she had missed a turn. This, of course, made it even more difficult to see course markers. Finally she encountered another runner who got her turned back around and eventually to the end of her leg. (This comedy of errors, not so funny at the time, was the result of the low light conditions, some problems with the signage, and the fact our team was running well ahead of the pack; essentially runners were on their own in finding their ways.)
Both of the above stories serve as parables regarding making a fitness commitment and sticking to it. From the first we learn the importance of establishing from the beginning a goal, better yet a sliding goal which is always pushed ahead as we become more and more fit. There is no finish line here. Failing to keep one's eye on a goal, your regimen will diminish into a circle.
A common lesson from both of our parables is that once you lose your way or, worse yet, backslide, the way back can be painful. Think of the sometimes steep curve one must climb in the early stages of reclaiming your fitness. Let's not put ourselves into the Yogi Berra loop of "deja vu all over again." For that matter, it is best to avoid as well Yogi's driving directions: "When you get to the Y in the road, take it." Set your bearings on a goal and stay the course!
The second parable, losing one's way and then turning back, can describe so many journeys of the will. How many alcoholics have struggled to sobriety only to fall off the proverbial wagon, perhaps with as simple a mistake as a social glass of wine or a beer with friends? Similarly, how many diets have been destroyed by a dessert binge or the thought that "surely this burger and fries won't hurt me." And finally, how many have invested in the long road to running a marathon, or riding the MS150 from San Antonio to Corpus, only to lose sight afterwards of the more important element of regularity of exercise. We should all remember that once the backslide begins, there is not only the task of checking one's tumble, but also the grit necessary to begin anew a fitness regimen. Better, by far, is to set your sight on that horizon landmark and never circle back.
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