I know I've said that about fifty bajillion times, but I'm serious. It's hard. Finding the motivation to hit the pavement is hard. Pushing through pain, sweat, and heat is hard. Thinking about your feet, legs, arms, head, posture, breathing, pace, and keeping an eye on the trail... All at the same time... Is hard.
But no one said this would be easy.
Becoming a runner isn't going to happen overnight... Not for me, anyways. Some people can lace up their sneakers and hit the trail like they were born to do it. Not this girl. Running, like losing weight, is one of those things I'm just going to have to chip away at one tiny bit at a time. I didn't lose 23 pounds overnight, and I'm not going to run a mile that way, either.
Since re-dedicating myself to this journey, I've decided that I should try to sign up for a race. I need something to motivate me, and keep me going... Something to look forward to accomplishing. The trouble is, I'm afraid of that committment. What if I sign up, and I'm not ready by race day? What if my shin pain gets worse, and I have to take time off? What if I sign up for a big race, and then bomb on race day?
Most of this is mental stuff. The phrase "what if" seriously should be banned from my vocabulary.
I'm fearful of signing up for something too soon, and not having enough time to adequately prepare. I'm like, the definition of a beginner. Be-gin-ner. Period. So if I sign up for a race in September, will I be ready? My logical side says probably not. Even if I trained everysingleday, I probably wouldn't survive a September race. How about October? Well... Scratch off most of that month, since we'll either be up to our necks in wedding preparations, or we'll be in Florida getting married. November? Julie's wedding.
This is where I have stupid, stupid thoughts.
I found a race I really, really want to do. It's for a cause that is close to my heart. It's a 5k. It's in November. It's two days after Julie's wedding.
Julie's wedding takes place on Friday evening... I fly out of Ft. Myers at like, 6am Saturday morning. (Possibly hungover from the festivities. Yikes.) This race takes place at like, 8am Sunday morning. And then I go back to work on Monday.
The cause is for lung cancer... Some of you, my dear followers, know that I lost both my grandparents to lung cancer. This cause is so close to my heart, and running this race would mean the world to me. But, failing at this race would be really awful. And as busy as my schedule is, and knowing how far I have to go until I can run a 5k... My better judgment says I shouldn't do this.
...But I really want to.
What would you do in this situation? Advice? Thoughts? Encouragement? I'm really torn on this one. I need a race to train for, but I don't want my first race to be such an important one... Because I might fail.
Decisions, decisions.
If the cause is close to your heart (and I can definitely see that it is) who cares if you run, walk or finish by doing a combination of the two? You're embarking on this journey for you - if you have to walk 2/3 of the 5K, that's NOT failing. The fact that you participated means you've done something to make your life better and to support a great cause. Every journey begins with a single step - so does the ability to run one mile or one hundred. You should do this - I think the experience alone would be worth it and would provide you with your own 'self-encouragement' to continue with other races in the future.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what you decide, I wish you luck on your journey!
I'm with you on the running thing. Seriously I run a couple of minutes and I start wheezing. I've never run as a legitimate thing. But I want to. I want to be a strong runner. I just have no idea how to prepare for that kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteI found with training for a 5K, my training went so much better when I had a race to work towards. My first race I was in no way ready for it (It was in November and I started to train in September), but I still did better than I expected to do, and it kept me pushing myself, which is the whole point for me :-)
ReplyDeleteI would maybe find another race for your first one, and then see where you are? I don't know how ready for a 5K I would be after a weekend like that, I feel like it would stress me out big time.
Good luck!!