"I couldn't agree more," was my first thought as I read the message on my computer that had popped up when I plugged in my Garmin Forerunner watch after training today. That message pops up every so often when I don't quite get the watch plugged in all the way.
I don't know about my watch, but that is exactly how I am feeling physically and mentally. I'm in a bad state. I'm drained and with the race only a month away training is only going to get more intense over the next two weeks. Longer, harder, hotter and faster until my peak training day.
As the Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero once said, "Great is the power of habit. It teaches us to bear fatigue and to despise wounds and pain." So my plan is to just hang in there and stick to my training plan and even though my Garmin watch is in "A Bad State," come race day, hopefully, my mind and body will be just where they should be.
Today on my 10-mile run I felt like giving up. Just walking away. I seem to feel like that about a month out from a race. The pressure of the race and life, doubts about my training and just plain old lack of motivation wear me down and cause me to wonder if all the effort is worth it. After all, it's only a race and it's supposed to be fun, not work. The couch is calling these days louder than the road and it is taking everything I have to keep pounding the miles away.
I have a training plan and a race goal and somewhere between last year's race time and my race goal is reality. Somewhere between now and the starting gun that reality will shift either closer to my goal or closer to last year's time depending on the effort I make over these few short weeks.
As fatigue and the pressures of life mount over the coming weeks, my grit, endurance and will power will be put to the test. If I fail and give up, shortening my workouts and lessening my efforts, race day will be a sufferfest and I'll be lucky to match last year's time. If I endure for just a few more weeks, hang in there and complete my plan, race day will be, well, it'll still be a sufferfest, but a well-earned sufferfest with a whole different meaning.
As the Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero once said, "Great is the power of habit. It teaches us to bear fatigue and to despise wounds and pain." So my plan is to just hang in there and stick to my training plan and even though my Garmin watch is in "A Bad State," come race day, hopefully, my mind and body will be just where they should be.
1 comment:
Hey Randy, I haven't read your blog in a little while, So I am catching up. You are still amazing to me, You are so self motivated and set in your goals. I really am very proud to be your sister. Whether you know it or not, you really do motivate others thru your stories.You are a fantastic story writer and teller. I always feel like I am right there with you. I hang on to every single word. I feel your excitement, pain, nerves and stress. I even get tired. I laugh and cry almost everytime I read something you post. So, I want to thank you for sharing the journey with us. As always I will be following your progess to race day. be safe out there and keep strong.:)
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