It was summer, 2014 and my marathon training runs had become a little sluggish. I didn’t know why, but my splits were getting slower and my legs were feeling heavy. Most days I was out running more than 5 miles of various hills, intervals, repeats, effort levels, and fartleks. Maybe I was getting bored of it. Maybe I was just tired.
I got to the trail for what I knew was going to be a disappointing run. I didn’t feel like running 5 miles, knowing that the pace would be slower than I wanted. I felt that despite all of the effort I was putting in, I just wasn’t improving. So, I tried something different.
Screw the plan. I needed to feel good about myself again.
It had been about 3-4 months since my last 5k and at this point in training I largely saw running this distance as a waste of time. It wouldn’t burn enough calories, it wouldn’t help my endurance, and a less-than-30 minute workout just didn’t seem like it was enough. But I just knew that after doing so many 5 mile runs, the 3.1 mile distance would be a cinch, and I would likely PR the distance.
So I ditched the scheduled run and ran the 5k. And I ran it fast. I had a hunch I could significantly beat my previous PR, but man I really crushed it – by minutes. When I was done, I felt accomplished and proud. Nobody was there to see it and it would never be posted in any race results. But that really didn’t matter. I knew, and that was good enough.
Perhaps even more importantly, that effort proved to me that the training was indeed working and it steeled my resolve going forward. From then until marathon day, I stayed focused and on track. Despite having a mix of good days and bad, I knew that in the end I was getting stronger and faster even though that one day’s workout might not always feel like a resounding success.
This week I was reminded of the series of events from that day when I wrote what I vowed to be my last “reset” article. In terms of working out, just getting to the gym these days would be a win for me. There are millions of excuses readily available to miss a workout. It’s about prioritizing it and doing it. I was having trouble waking up early – on days I have my daughter, I have to get up earlier than normal just to get her ready. I was also having trouble working out at night on those days, because I feel exhausted once I’m done running her to dance, gymnastics, making dinner, keeping the house, reading bedtime stories and putting her to bed. Who wants to run after all that?
Yet there was an obvious solution right in front of my face: run during the day.
Some of my co-workers go to the gym at lunch or in the afternoon. For years I rejected the notion and kept myself chained to the desk, sedentary for 9 hours a day almost every day of my life. In a way, exercising this option would help doubly-so, as it would both get me running on days I haven’t been, and get me off my butt for an hour a day when I’d normally be sitting. So I joined the gym, which is part of The Marriott right in the same building I work. I won’t even have to go outside in the winter to get there. There are literally no excuses anymore.
Last night I packed a gym bag, trying to remember everything I needed: a combination lock, headphones, deodorant, socks, fresh underwear, gym clothes. I almost forgot to bring sneakers, but remembered in the morning just before I drove to work. I left the office today at noon, ran three miles, showered, got back to the desk by 1 o’clock and felt great about it. It wasn’t my longest run. It wasn’t my fastest run. But it was 3 miles that I likely wasn’t going to do otherwise today, and an hour that I did not spend sitting in a chair.
My schedule is jam-packed and my time is valuable to me. But I have goals. I have things I need to do. There are always excuses, sometimes even the most mundane of which can seem intensely difficult to overcome. Especially if you are a creature of habit. I’m glad I remembered the lesson that I learned the day when I wearily got out of my car and decided I was going to PR a 5k instead of mope for 5 miles, and then did exactly that. It’s ok to fail sometimes. It’s ok to have bad days. But success is nice, too. So if you’re in a rut, sometimes it makes sense to step back and look at it from a different angle. Then ask yourself what can you differently to set yourself up for success?
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