this according to Ruth. My coach, Ricardo Tronky, “I run lots of 2.4 mile races” (but he truly devotes the time the energy and focus, and damn it he races what distance he wants when he wants…he is the definition of pure athletic devotion to a goal and he knows what the sacrifice takesl), said it best to me a year into my denial, “you are over living.” We had previously been in an airport and I was reading some training book. This phrase he discovered in my book and easily applied it to my situation.
My situation was that I was increasingly frustrated with my performance. I wanted to blame hydration, eating, maybe a little my coach (sorry, love you), my work schedule, my business, anything that was not me. When in fact, and very obviously, it was me. I was over living and expecting to be able to do everything I wanted and have the great running performances, because of course I was doing it all.
Probably what was killing me the most was the stress of too much to do. And that’s what I kept saying to myself, I have too much to do. I would squeeze my running into the tiny time slots I had. My problem was that I thought that because I was doing every run I was suppose to do, including the stretching, the lifting, the massage (mostly), the hydration, that I could run well. That was simple not the case.
I believe you can participate in running events, triathlons, swimming, whatever you want to do. But if you want to preform at those events, BQ, PR, win your age group, whatever that lifts your skirt and really excites you about a goal that is more than just finishing you must be realistic about what it takes and the time you have to devote to that goal, as well as the scarifies you must make.
What I needed to do most was to rest. Truly it was pretty damn simple but extremely hard at the same time. I needed to leave work at work. I needed to take naps, I needed to spend the time to listen to my body, I needed to work on my mental preparation, I needed time to myself, I needed to place the running ahead of everything else and realize and accept I could not do it all. But what I believed was all I need to do was all the workouts written by my coach, on the exact day in the exact order regardless of the rest of my life. I would often get up at 5:30 am or earlier to get in each and every workout. That’s really far worse than not doing enough of your workouts.
The advice I hope to give to those struggling for a BQ qualifier or their next PR, is to prioritize your life. And then arrange running to the fore front of the list and be willing to drop some of those things on the list and know that you will sacrife the busy crazy life that you crave, for a PR or a BQ. You must except that you can not do it all. Supermom’s are not real, superdad’s are fakes, superwive’s and superhusband’s, are busy dropping the ball and it’s more like it is not just your running you are dropping but my guess is you are half assing just about everything you do. I know because I done a lot if it.
Be honest about the commitment you are making, embrace and expect the journey to be challenging, selfish and rewarding and see what you can really do.
Second mistake….later
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: mental training, overtraining, performance, rogue, running, stress, work
It sounds like Ricardo said it well. Trying to do everything perfectly ends in doing nothing well. With that said, maybe prioritizing means putting running farther down the list so that the bigger things in life like family or health can take the lead. I don’t think many dedicated marathoners put running anywhere but first place, but maybe that’s the problem. Although it’s not always the case, it seems like most people want to run because of what it does for them in their lives: makes them dedicated, keeps them healthy, gives them community, rather than because they thirst to be first. If the means don’t achieve the ends, it’s time to stop and readjust.
I love this post! You are sooo right
Thanks for sharing.
What excellent advice! I think it’s great you mentioned mental preparation because it’s so often overlooked.
Just read this post again. Really love it! I am a queen half asser. But this post hits home and reminds me of my mom’s favorite saying, “Jack of all trades and master of none…” I will prioritize. I will prioritize!!!