I was feeling “Meh” about my training plan this week. I wasn’t excited about it. I wasn’t dreading it. I wasn’t really feeling anything but ambivalence. But ambivalence is a feeling, so there had to be a thought behind it, right?
So I set to work figuring out what I was thinking that was causing this ambivalence, and I struggled to define the thought. Then (with much coaching and tough love from Jill), I decided to pick a thought that would make me feel something other than ambivalence, something I wanted to feel. It took me a minute (or 20) and I landed on, “I don’t have to feel like it to go running, I just have to do it.” This made me feel a little lighter inside.
What I love about running
I actually really love running, and I love all of the things it does for me. That doesn’t mean I’m always going to be excited to do it. But just like I’m not always excited to go to work, or excited to brush my teeth, or excited to pay my bills, I do it all because I don’t want the consequences of not doing those things (no money, rotten teeth, and living in a cardboard box on Lower Wacker). Once I started living with that thought, I then decided to start thinking about all of the things associated with running that I love and are worth the effort of sticking to my training plan:
This group for one thing. And being a coach. And working with the Not Your Average Runner team.
And races!
And being outside!
Yummy post run fuel.
And a good stretch (especially legs up the wall, it hurts so good!).
And the satisfaction of setting goals and making progress toward them.
All of these things make me happy and make me feel mentally calm. So I don’t need to feel like it to do it, but instead remember how it makes me feel TO do it.
How does running make you feel?
See you on the path,
Jen