I love it when I have a run that turns out be a great metaphor for my life, and last night was a perfect example.
One of the things I enjoy about endurance running is that it really forces me to be patient … to recognize that the point is to finish, and that so much can happen over a long distance that you can’t get too hung up on any one thing. You have to pace yourself, and most importantly, try to enjoy the journey, because the goal can be a looooong way off.
Last night our group run started off badly for me – which is just perfectly representative of how my week had gone up to then. We immediately had to climb a huge hill, my ankles hurt, I couldn’t find my rhythm, I couldn’t breathe well, and I just felt awful. It was the Elizabeth Barrett Browning of runs … How does my run suck? Let me count the ways.
It got a little better (tolerable anyway) when one of our coaches, Joe, hung back to make sure I was all right, and then just talked to me for a while, taking my mind off the run and getting me through some of the harder portion. For a while I was seriously considering just packing it in after the first loop. Deep down though, I knew that the only reason my run was going badly was that my head just wasn’t in it, and that quitting would only make me feel worse. Self pity doesn’t become most people, and I am no exception. So I just decided in my own mind that no matter what, I was going to at least finish the entire run. I didn’t have to like it, but I had to do it.
I also knew that if I could keep going, I would have salvaged something good out of my day, and that I would feel better for not having given in. So when we finished the first loop, I turned right back around and went out there for another. This one turned out to be a comedy of errors. I went the wrong way and ended up looping back around to the creek … which put me behind Dano, who was sweeping (taking down the flags along the route), so I was essentially running unmarked, unfamiliar trail. I’ve run part of this area before, but I don’t know all of it, and I definitely didn’t know where the turn was to head up the side of the mountain … but I found a trail that headed in the right direction, and just went. That led to what was pretty much a climb up the side of a cliff, but it did eventually put me back on the right trail. From there on, things went pretty well … made a couple more wrong turns and added some extra mileage to the trip. But it’s funny how focusing on trying not to get lost took my mind off my problems, off my self pity, off my self, and next thing I knew, I was actually having a great run. Hit the bottom around sunset, and knew I needed to pick up the pace if I wanted to get back to the trail head (about two miles away) before it was pitch black out. Thankfully, this part I knew. And of course, after sticking with it for more than two hours, I was finally feeling great .. not only physically, but also mentally.
That’s where the life lessons come in.
Sometimes you will have bad days, or bad weeks. But if you just move forward, things will get better.
Sometimes we all get lost. The key is to realize it when it happens and just keep trying to find the right path.
Sometimes the greatest satisfaction comes from just knowing you didn’t quit, no matter how badly you wanted to.
And sometimes, if you just quit whining, you can turn something bad into something wonderful.
