Things That Get In My Way

At the beginning of this year I resolved to run 30 miles a week, and then didn’t do anything even resembling that.  The good news is that the year isn’t quite over yet, so I can keep trying – or at least get closer to reaching my goal.  It’s too late for me to average 30 miles a week for the year now, unless I summon up the ability to do 57 miles a week for the rest of the year.  This will actually probably happen, but I need a back-up plan.  It would be fun to reach 1,000 miles this year, but that might be a stretch, and reaching for it might involve pushing myself too hard and getting hurt like I usually do.  I need to start making better plans, and avoiding things that get in the way of reaching my goals.  Here’s a list of things that usually get in the way of my reaching my goals:

1. Lack of motivation
2. Naps
3. Tummy aches
4. Over-enthusiasm –> Injury
5. Boredom
6. Not enough cute running outfits
7. Frustration when I don’t improve as quickly as I want

This list isn’t too bad, considering most people probably have things on their lists like family or full-time jobs.  Luckily I’m responsible for neither of those things, so I’m mostly my own biggest obstacle.  Like with #2 and #3 – I can pretty much avoid both naps and tummy aches if I just sleep and eat properly, but sometimes I don’t pay any attention to those things.  They don’t seem like a huge deal, but if I’m too sleepy I often just won’t work out,and if I have a tummy ache, sometimes it hurts too much or I’m too bathroom-bound to workout.  It sounds sad, but it’s pretty much always my own fault.

I’ve been working hard at recruiting new running buddies or making old ones move back to down, so #5 is being taken care of.  It’s also a lot less boring to run when you feel generally more motivated, and when you feel stronger and healthier.  I’m not sure where my increased motivation has come from, but that one is being taken care of as well, at least for now.

#6 is a tough one, because I need to be saving my money right now, and not for cute running outfits.  I suppose once I’m fast enough I’ll be sponsored by cute running outfit companies and that one won’t be a problem anymore either.

The real dangers I’m facing are #4 and #7.  I often get really excited about running,do too much, and then instantly hurt myself.  What needs to happen is that I should have cross-training workouts lined up for days I’m hurting anywhere.  If I’m too focused on high mileage, then I just want to run and get my miles in, but I need to forget about that and just do a low-impact workout instead.  Finally, I need to get over #7.  Sometimes I work really hard but don’t get as good as I want to at something, and just give up.  This is stupid, and I shouldn’t do it.  If you have any advice on how to not do this, let me know.

I’m working on improving my planning skills by not setting such lofty goals without concrete plans that I know I can stay on top of.  I’m very good at setting lofty goals, but not as much the second part.  Hopefully soon I can update you with a solid plan I’ve actually started, rather than just declare an idealistic goal and hoping it happens.

Right now you can see how I’m trying to prevent injuries by using my dad’s heating pad on my semi-sore shin, that’s actually for his back and I stole it from his room.  Later you won’t be able to see it, but I will be doing a leg weights workout instead of running, to cross-train while my shin is still a little sore.  I’ve always been good at learning from my mistakes, but now I’m actually trying to prevent myself from making them again!  Please take note of this as how much I’m growing as a person/runner.

Miles run in 2012: 369