
But I inspired someone.
Moral of this story (aka TL;DR). You never know who you’re inspiring. Just keep at it. Someone out there is looking up to you and you may never even know.
But I inspired someone.
Moral of this story (aka TL;DR). You never know who you’re inspiring. Just keep at it. Someone out there is looking up to you and you may never even know.
Today, after I complained about my crappy run, a friend said:
“Some days you own your run. Some days your run owns you.”
Today my run certainly owned me.
So you know how somedays you head out and you’re super excited for a run and nothing in the world can stop you?
Yea.
I thought that was today.
What today ended up being was the most humbling run I have been on in a long time.
My stomach was upset. I was over tired. I had to pee (used the woods like a champ), the air temp was -3F if not lower, my back still hurt from over use earlier in the week, it was incredibly icy, I couldn’t get my breathing to even out. My joints were angry with the four layers of compression I had them layered in, so my stride was awful… I was running, at my fastest, a 15:25 mile.
At one point, I cried. I honestly believed I should give up running forever today. I haven’t maxed out at a 15 minute mile in two years. All that negative energy just latched on to me and I felt terrible, cold, miserable… And I swore I’d never run again.
After about 4 miles, I slowed my roll and realized I was being just a tad over dramatic.
Thankfully, my two cohorts kept pep talking me and urging me on. Yes, today was not my best run, but I’d be happier knowing I did it. Yes, I was going slow, but I was outside! I was doing it! Yes, I was struggling… but I wasn’t letting it best me.
So I put one foot in front of the other for 5.1 torturous miles, and I pressed on. If they hadn’t have been there, I’d probably have laid down in the fetal position and just called someone to come get me.
Today my run certainly owned me. But what I can take away from this far less than perfect run is a big serving of humble pie. Not every run will be great. Some are going to be awful. Some are going to be slow. Some are going to suck so hard you’ll wonder why you ever started running…
But that next run? I’M totally going to own it.