Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Which is a better run?

A question that has been playing in my mind is which would be considered a better run. The run that you were really in to, and just felt really right, or the one that you didn't want to do but pushed through and completed it. I would love to say, of course, the one that felt awesome, I was so into it, and it just flowed, but would that be taking the easy way out? Wouldn't the better run be the one you had to fight for, the one that you just really didn't want to do, but you did, you talked yourself out of quitting, and did it, what an accomplishment.

I know I am only just a week into my 1/2 training, but I have been so committed to doing this one right, and really putting my all into it - while every run hasn't been necessarily easy, I have had the determination and want to get it done, and it felt good. Unfortunately, yesterday I was extremely exhausted, and have no real reason why, but I turned off my alarm, without even knowing it went off. Yup, I was that exhausted. My husband told me that he kept smacking me until I turned it off, I have no recollection of it, definitely a deep sleep, thank God for hubby's alarm that goes off later or I wouldn't have made it to work on time. Anyways, I definitely missed my morning run, and with Florida heat, and no more energy later in the day I wasn't sure I was going to get through my scheduled 4 mile run. As I did my inhaler and changed my clothes, my energy level stayed the same - I thought for sure, I am going to get on the treadmill, run a mile and quit - so I got on the treadmill, one side of my brain saying " you are going to do this", the other " its okay if you quit, you're really tired, at least you did something", but my "good" side of the brain kept saying, you cannot give up, you want to have a better half and that won't happen if you don't train well. I decided I would hold myself accountable, so at mile one, I texted my sister in law and best friend, saying 1 mile down, 3 to go. I knew that she believed in me and if I didn't do the next 3, I would have to tell her why. I kept up the texting for mile 2, and mile 3 and at that point, I was like, really, I can't quit when there is only one mile to go. So, I didn't - I'm not saying it was easy, because it surely wasn't. I wanted to quit at every 1/2 mile, but I knew if I did, I wouldn't be happy, I knew I had to do this.

So back to my question, which is a better run, one that feels good and you really enjoy, or one that you have to really work at to complete, and in the end it is a huge accomplishment? I'm going to have to say both are great runs, but I think the one that you have to work at is better, because it is a bigger feat and a much bigger push on your ego, which makes later runs more easy, because you know you can do it. So along my running trail, I long for good runs that keep me enjoying it, but also hard runs that challenge me and convince me that I am stronger than I think I am.

2 comments:

  1. Msn, that is a great question. I suspect both are equally important in their own way. Great job.

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  2. I guess any run is a great run. We should be grateful we can. At any given time it can be taken from us or we can be just be taken.

    There is no one run better than the other, just different levels of experiences. Just like one drop of sweat isn't anymore worthy of being honored for it's "hard workout" than any other drop just because there was a lack of motivation. It still was a production of the same energy exertion and deserves the same admiration.

    Alrighty, then! Sorry for the Zen moment there. That was the Wiccan High Priestess in me. Excellent question to ponder while running! I often ask these questions of myself when running and come up with those Zen type answers. Actually, that's when I communicate with what I call the Universe and what you call God. I believe those Zen type answers come from the Universe. Great mediation time!

    Write more! I look forward to reading your blog.

    Lisa
    http://runfatgirlrun-inana.blogspot.com/

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