Sometimes you get stuck doing something you know you need to do but avoid doing because of circumstances that you pile in front of the door till you have to use a crowbar to get yourself out of the predicament that you built for yourself. Making things harder for yourself is a self-inflicted wound that you could have avoided altogether by just gutting it out and doing what you were supposed to do.
Running is like that. If you are training for something then you commit to the moving towards the goal. If you avoid the commitment then it just waits for you. You know it is there - it is patient. Eventually you have to sit down with yourself and make amends for your poor decisions.
I have had some hard runs of late because of choices I made. I really cannot blame anyone but myself for the stress or the result of the runs that I have to do. Is it easier to run when it is 60◦ rather than in 92◦. Resounding yes. Is it harder to run up a mountain and down the mountain to get your miles in – yes. What you get for your reward is just what you get to put into it. I have not seen a single runner who gets to have someone pitch-hit for him to finish the run. You get to do it yourself – it is an individual sport – which individuals compete against themselves. Worse than golf or baseball. The only way to cut time off of your run is to push yourself. Pushing yourself is the only way to get any better at what you are doing.
Today I went for a 5 mile run in West Valley. My employer luckily has a shower at work – so when I am a mess as I usually become after a run I can become presentable again. This run was tough. I know I can run faster than I did. I blamed the environment – 88 some degrees outside along with a blazing sun outside. That can make a run slightly more difficult. It can be even more difficult when you have the opportunity to go in the morning and you stay in bed. Self-inflicted wound.
So what do you do? Man can either do what has been done in the past and continue suffering because of his own actions. OR the other less travelled path is the one that leads through the forest of planning, sacrifice, and hard work.
The choice to go the road of suffering and pain is one that you can make easily take. It is the one more travelled. It is the one that most people will take because they don’t want do try something different. As my wife would say – to prepare themselves for success. 15 miles in the middle of the day 91 degrees. 8 miles in 91 degrees. 5 miles full of pain and no satisfaction. Your own choice to go that road.
I think that less travelled road is the one I will take. It is the one that has the better reward – your own cup of satisfaction. Brewed with your own hands. Ground out by the runs at night and the pain of the daylight run. Oh you can look for an easier path. There of course are the paths that are made of broken promises to yourself. But you can take control of your own direction. Do you go the easy road that is paved with quitting, stopping, gasping, and hot dilerium? Or is the road you take paved with your own satisfaction that you put in the time and effort to be successful?
As Dr. Seuss would say – “Oh the places we’ll go”
