Playing Your Game // 14/18

To say that I am over training couldn't be further from the truth. While I still enjoy the act of running, I don't enjoy having to run a certain number of miles on a certain day at a certain time. Back when my alarm would go off at 5am, I couldn't wait to start my morning with some fresh air and an easy run in the park opposed to now when it goes off I want throw a 4 year old fit and just go back to bed.

But I don't because I'm not training for nothing here, folks. I have to constantly remind myself that this isn't easy and that's why not everyone is doing it. 

Monday - 2+ mile hike at Hanging Lake

Tuesday - 5 mile run 

Wednesday - 5 mile run 

Thursday -  5 mile run 

Friday - rest

Saturday - 8 mile run 

Sunday - 12 mile run 

I met a man yesterday that said he hasn't put on a pair of tennis shoes since he ran a marathon 12 years ago. I informed him that I was training for my first marathon and he said if I can run 20 miles, I can run 26.2. Being that I ran 20 miles last week and will do so again this upcoming week, I'm guessing that I should feel at ease and somewhat "relieved" knowing I can do this. Wrong. I'm internally freaking the you-know-what out every hour of every day.

Then my hairstylist yesterday said that she wishes she had the motivation and passion that I do. Me? Umm, girlfriend, I honestly don't know how I've made it this far. Yes, I will pride myself in the fact that I push through the runs that absolutely suck and I get them done because if I say I'm going to following a training plan, I'm going to do just that. But that's not to say that I've teared up a time or two because my body physically and mentally just aches.

Running, well any tough activity for that matter, is such a mental game. When you're in the thick of it and want to give up, you keep going because you switch the negative in your brain to positive and before you know it you are done. You walk in your door, slowly melt in-between every crevasse in your couch, and think how the hell did I just do that?

We get through it; we always do. We cross the finish line only to turn around and begin training for something else because we are human and the clock keeps ticking. Find what it is that keeps your mental and physical game playing, even if your piece is moving at a pace that is too fast, too slow, or in the square that you didn't' see coming. After all, it's just a game, right?