THE TURTLE TRIES TO LISTEN...
Monday, June 9, 2008
So this morning I finally open up the latest issue of Runner's World and as I'm leafing through it I come across John "Penguin" Bingham's No Need for Speed column. (For those who don't know, John Bingham is a runner/writer who started running late in life after being an overweight couch potato with a slew of bad health habits and has since gone on the champion the cause of ordinary people getting out and running for fitness and fun. Lots of info about John and his work can be found at http://www.johnbingham.com/.) I usually find that he has good things to say, and this month's column was particularly timely, as he relayed the story of a fellow runner at March Antarctica Marathon and Half Marathon... this fellow had planned to run the marathon but after a series of mishaps decided to run the half instead and approached the whole situation with grace and poise.
Here's what the Pengiun had to say about that...
Many of us put so much significance on one day in our running lives that we're almost guaranteed to be disappointed. We set goals, have expectations, make plans based on our egos. We convince ourselves that who we are will be based on what we accomplish that day. When that day doesn't turn out as we expected, we often allow ourselves to be devastated. I've seen runners on the verge of a breakdown because they missed their self-imposed standard of performance. But a day is just a day. A race is just a race. It is our selfishness, our self-centeredness that creates the disappointments that we too often let define us. (Runner's World, July 2008, p. 56)I've had some very disappointing days this year, mainly due to lack of consistent training on my part but also due to circumstances beyond my control (like Saturday's unseasonal heat and humidity.) And I have to admit it's been a downer. But I'm going to try to get beyond that and use those experiences as for learning rather than as further reasons to sit on my backside and get fat and lazy.
(The full article can be found here, for those who are interested in the entire thing and don't get the print version.)
JMH
