Accept The Challenges—Never Get Comfortable With Failure
I started running as a high school sophomore (back then 9th
graders weren’t at the high school). Back in my 30’s and 40’s when I was doing
triathlon and distance running, I was running a whopping 60 to 70 miles a week,
which included two to three double workouts, and a 13-mile long run on Sundays.
Nowadays, I probably run no more than 20 miles a week, with
distance runs in the 30- to 40-minute range and 90% of my runs are on a
treadmill.
As a sophomore in high school, the 5:00-mile barrier was
somewhat of a rite of passage. It was my goal that whole season, and I finally
achieved it in one of my last track races that year, running 4:50. I continued
to PR every year after that, so sub-5:00 came with the territory.
Back in 2020 and the COVID days, I decided to try to break the
6-minute mile mark. At 56, I wanted to see if “I could still push myself.” I ended
up running a 5:42. After that I set my sites on Boston for 1 last race.
When it comes to a challenge, there are 3 important
questions you must ask yourself:
1.
How do you manage the logistics of the
challenge?
2.
Is there a specific time of year, place (event),
or people you do it with?
3.
Do you have a plan for if/when you won’t beat
your goal anymore? (This one hurts, but there will come a time when your body
can’t do what your mind thinks it can).
This is how I approached any challenge:
If I break the barrier, great! If I don’t achieve it, I
learn from what went wrong so next time I’m better prepared. And when it comes
to the point that I can’t do it anymore, I’ll find a different way to challenge
myself and it probably will have nothing to do with racing or running a certain
time.
My advice to those who still seek the challenge of racing or
goal based running challenges--welcome failure. Failure can provide you with a
new perspective: It taught me to be thankful for my successes instead of
regretful about what could have gone differently.
BUT and this is a big BUT….never get comfortable with
failure! Learn from it, but don’t accept it!
Failure and success are 2 different paths that sometimes
intersect. If you keep doing down the
path of failure, it’s time to turn around.
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