A couple of weeks ago, I made a promise to myself that, no matter what, I would do ALL of my training runs leading up to the Seattle Rock ‘N’ Roll Half Marathon. NO. MATTER. WHAT. And I’ve been sticking to it, even with some struggles. Mostly around finding motivation.
I decided to drive to the spot I wanted to start my long run this past week. I had 9 miles on the books and I wanted the option to stop if I needed to and have a quick exit. I didn’t really plan on cutting my run short, but I wanted an easy option to do so to take it off my mind.
My route was 2 times around a 3.25-mile loop and then up the path 1.25 miles and back 1.25 miles. This is seriously the best I’ve ever been at math.
It’s all about perspective
I did my first loop with no problem but had one little thought about just calling it then and going home. Nope, 9 miles on the books. Keep going.
As I started out on the second loop, I began to struggle with my thoughts and finding motivation. Doing the same loop twice was hard on my brain. I started in on the “Ugh, I just did this.” “This is boring.”
And then I passed two ladies walking. One of the ladies had some sort of brace on one of her legs and I could tell she was struggling, but she was out there walking. Okay, perspective, Jen. Keep moving. Then my headphones died. Urgh. Okay, listen to the birds. Keep moving.
I felt like I was in that scene in the Twilight Zone when you are running down the hallway and it just keeps getting longer and longer. I was now convinced the run would never end. I saw the first goslings of the spring and stopped to take a photo and coo at them and then kept…effing…going…
Find what motivates you
I was about half a mile from my car, which would be 6.5 miles, and I was having all the thoughts about calling it at that point. Then I passed those same ladies again. And while my head was telling me how fricking slow I was going and this run would never end, the lady with the leg brace said, “You are making such good time!” It was just what I needed to hear. And it was perspective, once again.
We are so damn hard on ourselves, and this is proof that our thoughts are not circumstances! I was thinking how slow I was and she was thinking how fast I was!
I finished that last couple of miles and was so proud of myself for committing to my goal of doing all of my training runs.
That feeling is all the motivation I need!
See you on the path,
Jen
