Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Running Confession

Confession: I never time my runs, and I don't care how fast I run at a race.



Don't get me wrong, I am a perfectionist to the core. I am competitive at nearly everything I do (even tailgating...which reminds me, I need to get to thinking on how we can have a better setup next season. Other tailgates around us had way better decor..but I digress).  Perfectionism is a blessing in some cases, but can really be a party pooper when it comes to the fun things in life. After running for 10 years I am still shocked I have managed to keep the perfectionism monster out of my running life.

I started running because a friend told me she wanted to run a marathon and I decided that sounded "fun." Of course then I realized I had never actually run before.  Being the nerd that I am, I went to the local bookstore (yes, it was before we bought everything online) and bought a book called The Non-runner's Marathon Trainer. The book is based on a course developed at the University of Northern Iowa that is designed to  help a new runner train and FINISH a first marathon. The book encourages mental preparation and physical preparation.  The main theme of the book is to go into your first marathon without a goal for time. Only a goal to finish. All of the training runs are only for distance, and you are asked not to time yourself. The author has you use rate or perceived exertion and heart rate as metrics instead. Their reasoning is that a marathon is a tremendous accomplishment, and that it would be sad for you to spend months training for the race, finish 26.2 miles, and then feel bad because it took you 10 minutes longer than you wanted.

Lucky for me, I subscribed to that train of thought, and never consistently timed myself while training. I can say I really enjoyed and finished my first marathon. People asked how I did. I simply said, "It was great. I finished!" Perfectionism took a holiday during marathon time.  Ever since then I have continued to run for the sheer joy of finishing. I like running, and I find joy in simply running. When I think about it, I can't even imagine wanting to get "better" or "faster" at running.  I have tried timing myself, and honestly, it just feels funny. I'd rather just run because I can. I am fine if you get to the finish line before me. It will be there when I get there.

 Maybe I should work on taking a few other aspects of life out of the "because I wanna be the best" category, and into the "just because" category?



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