Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Dream big or wake up ~ why I run and what I want to accomplish

I have been a lazy bum lately. I'm always interested in why other people run and what goals they have and how they accomplish those goals. The thing is - I can always find someone lazier than me to justify my personal laziness, or find someone way more awesome than me which is discouraging when I feel super far behind. None of this really matters tho ~ I need to figure out why I run and why my goals are, so I can use that to get my hiney out of bed and on the road in the morning!

Here are some of my thoughts as I've been pondering those "whys" lately:

I'm not running to lose weight - it helps a little but I can still put on weight running 20+ miles a week if I don't watch what I eat. I'm sure a diet and lots of time on the elliptical would give better results if that were my goal.

I'm not running to prove anything ~ old people, overweight people, young people, etc. can run a half marathon or a marathon with the right training so I'm nothing special, even tho those shiney medals on the wall sure do make me smile hehe.

I'm not running to win - no matter how fast I get, I'm already 29 and the majority of that time I've led a pretty unathletic existence and have no chance of placing at the top ~ and I'm ok with that.

I run because it is fun.
I run because I can get better every week if I try.
I can go further, I can go faster, I can beat myself at every PR if I just put my mind to it and make the effort. No matter what goal I meet and max out, there will always another out there to go after which is pretty awesome.

I run for me and me alone. If I have a crappy day and cry after 1 mile and go home to pout in bed, no one cares but me. If I run an amazing 10 mile run and feel fantastic, again, no one cares but me. Running is all about me improving myself so I'm the only one who decides if I succeed or not ~ that is a lot of pressure haha. 

So I know why I run, in general ~ but knowing why I like something isn't enough to get out of bed. I need a goal to work towards so that I can tell myself "for this specific reason, you need to get outside today!"

So what ARE my goals?!

After getting injured in Fall of 2011 and missing our first half marathon, I just wanted to finish one ~ no pressure outside of just being pain free and getting to the finish line.
Hands on House Half Marathon, September 2012 - DONE. 

Next goal ~ run a 1/2 marathon under 2:30
Rehoboth is absolutely going to be the race where I do this, I am projecting closer to 2:20.

Next goal ~ run a full marathon in the Spring.
There are 14 weeks between Rehoboth and the Annapolis Striders Marathon on March 16, 2013. That is where I'm setting my sights so after December I don't just curl up and wait for the world to thaw like a fat groundhog :)

Outside of these specific races tho... I have this desire to be an ultra runner. It is hard to write that sentence without saying stupid/crazy/insane/unrealistic/etc. idea... because I hear that from SO many people around me when I talk to them about this.

I don't know if it is realistic ~ only time and training will tell ~ but it is certainly not stupid, crazy, insane, etc. ... it is just different. Different than wanting to run a super fast 5k, different than wanting to collect medals from road races, different from just running to stay fit. Different isn't bad... and so many people embrace "different"... maybe I can too.

So we'll see how Rehoboth goes and how my first marathon goes. If I can keep myself motivated, keep training and especially start strength training so I'm less injury prone, there may be a 50 miler in my future ~ Nov 2013 is a possibility if my body is ready, if not, there is always 2014. No rush, no pressure, just big dreams.

And if you don't dream big... just wake up. Life is realistic enough, why should I dreams be too? :-D

No comments: