I am in the throes of party preparation once again, the final of my family’s “triad of summer birthday celebrations” Thing 2 is turning 4 shortly and I’ve spent the better part of this week searching for the perfect lemon cake recipe, stuffing the pinata, and amassing large quantites of food/drink/favors/games necessary for the big bash. I’m catching a breather here between slicing up a boatload of fruit, searching for confetti that I know is here somewhere and frosting said lemon birthday cake so I thought I’d get on and throw out a topic that’s been on my mind lately:
Since you’ve become a runner, do you notice any of the qualities necessary to be one successfully carryover to other aspects of your life?
Since this is my blog I’ll start:
After reading The Athlete’s Way: Sweat and the Biology of Bliss (affiliate) a few years ago, the line “slip through the keyhole” sticks with me still. To me it means that point in running when it stops sucking and you relax into that groove. For me that usually happens by mile 3, maybe earlier if I’m lucky. I carry that principle over to the rest of my life by remembering that everything doesn’t start out easy. But if I persist, it WILL get easier. And I will get thru it. A great mental toughness lesson.
Running helps me stick to a plan, set a goal and work to achieve it.
It was the marathon that scared the daylights out of me. I was super impressed by anyone who had done one. Even a half marathon for that matter had me in awe. I tossed the idea of attempting one around in my head for a long time, rationalizing that I didn’t “have the time” to train for one the right way. It was a pivotal moment in my life when I finally faced the dragon and committed to doing one (Chicago 2007). Taking on what was for me a “bigger than life” challenge and breaking it down into manageable parts and ultimately succeeding gave me so much confidence. And that has definitely carried over into many other aspects of my life. What is it they say? Impossible is nothing.
I have more but empty goodie bags are beckoning. How about you? Discuss.
I am thinking about how not all runs are good ones. How sometimes for seemingly no reason at all it is hard hard hard to master the miles for the day. During those runs I try to remind myself that a. They can't ALL be good and b. It is the fighting through the hard ones that makes me stronger. When I am having a rough day I try to remind myself of the very same things. Sometimes it works.
Welcome and thank you for your comment Ruth! So, so true! I actually had one of those "character building" runs this morning!