Avoiding All or Nothing
// January 19th, 2012 // Comments Off on Avoiding All or Nothing // exercise, Mental Training, running, success, Training, Ultra-marathon
It’s an easy trap for anyone to fall into where they either have it their way or not at all. For me, it’s easy to be the “hero” or “extreme” guy but it’s the less easy to do the less glorious, um, stuff. That’s why though the race will be challenging for sure, I’m convinced that the biggest benefit to be gained from this race is the training I’ll be doing for the next 7 months. It’s the man I need to become, the fears I’ll have to face and the self-imposed obstacles that I’ll have to break through that will provide the proceeds that make this all worthwhile.
Yesterday I’d intended on 12 miles. I dropped my car off at the mechanic and planned on running from there (exciting as it would have been on new roads/terrain) but as I got ready to leave, a cousin of mine that I’d not seen in four years appeared next to me. We had a wonderful reunion that lasted the full hour+ of my appointment. Of course I wanted to be with him but now I didn’t have time to do my 12. When I got home, Maria (wife) was making tortilla–and the truth is, I had work that really could have been done and, and…I looked at my schedule for today (1/19) to see if I could bypass yesterday’s workout altogether and do it today. I got that I simply didn’t have time today so…
Defying my scammer, I decided to drop my all-or-nothing attitude (quick before it got me!) and do my favorite run, a 6.5-mile, leave-it-all-on-the-road run. My prior best was 42:26. It was about 20 degrees, windy and with the recent snow, there wasn’t much room to run (away from traffic) but I stopped whining and hit the run hard completing in record time, 41:54!
I’m pretty psyched because I turned a day where I was going to avoid doing what I could do, to a day of victory over my mind that had been working me from the moment I’d considered not running to the moment my feet arrived back home. It’s crazy when you (I) think about the persistence of that scamming, sabotaging voice.
For what it’s worth, here’s some of what my scammer had to say:
“You don’t need to run. ”
“One long run in a week is fine.”
“It’s cold.”
“You did good yesterday.”
“You need to work anyway; it was meant to be.”
“Go get some stuff done; be productive, will you?”
“6.5 isn’t enough. You said you wanted to do 12.”
“Oooh, you’re running to fast.”
“The wind is blowing straight at you, slow down.”
“Oh (pouting), yeah you turned down another street but the wind is still head on.”
“OK, now you’d better slow or you’ll never make it.”
“You’re already going to beat your best time, might as well relax.”
Unreal… That’s why yesterday’s effort feels like such a great victory!
Today I rest/stretch!
Nice…
