Hard Runs Hurt

Today’s Run

Time – 55:51
Distance – 6.1 miles
Pace – 9:09 min/mi
Elevation – 157 ft.

Nothing messes with my own personal brand of OCD more than finishing a run and being .1 or .2 short of some standard distance. I was .1 mile short of a 10k today, but this was a workout with a cool down, not a specific 10k run, so I have to let that go. Warm-up, then 3 miles HARD with cool-down. I went fast and really pushed, and my legs were a little sore at the end. Had to slow WAY down at the end of the 3 miles, which wasn’t good, but there were a few more hills than I wanted to have to work with today. All in all, a good run. I did the 3 miles at better than 8:41 pace (the middle mile was 8:10 pace), so I feel really good about that. Especially considering I ran it alone. I can keep hard paces by myself.

Pain is inevitable

Lots of reading, and watching of Sage Canady on YouTube, have given me the truth that I’m going to have to accept one way or another: Running is going to hurt a lot, eventually. I can keep running at a moderate-to-slow pace and get a little faster, and avoid most injuries, and enjoy the running, but I won’t reach my goals. I’m going to have to run hard some days, and I’m going to have to risk sore muscles, cramps, and potential extra days off. It’s the price of having big goals.

The concept here is something that extends into all other parts of life, doesn’t it? You can’t be really great at something without dedicating to it. That dedication, by definition, reduces your ability to do other things. It requires sacrifice. Participation in one thing takes time from all other things.

This is something that I’ve always struggled with. I want to be good at many things, but I have only so much time to work at them all. Thus, my hobbies have shifted constantly for many years while I try something new, get to know and understand it, do it a little while, and then move on. Some things I come back to, regularly. Reading, chess, school, and writing top the list. This is not my first blog, and not my first about running, either.

As for chess, don’t ask The Wife about that; she doesn’t like my mood when I lose a few games…

I’ve done this with running before, too. But, this time, it feels a little different. It feels more like the reading, the chess, or the writing. It’s something that moves the inside of me. It makes me want to learn and understand more about myself, and not about the subject at hand. I want to change myself to meet these challenges, not just do the challenges to check off the box and say that I did it. You can’t run 100 miles without having to be different than you were when you started, physically or mentally.

And THAT’S what dedication is. A willingness to change to meet your goals and expectation. A desire to be different in order to do different things. It’s about moving yourself to be something that can accomplish your goals.

What are you dedicated to doing?