Honesty

I received an email from a runner today and upon reading it, I thought, “well this is something that is blog-worthy”.  Here is a message to me from an anonymous runner:

 “I have to confess coach: I have not been following the schedule. We have had long  days  with early starts, rain, too much beer and not much sleep. I've managed to put in a few miles.”

What I love most about this message is not that she is being honest with me, but that she is being honest with herself.  As recreational half and full marathon runners, we typically have a lot on our plate; work, family, volunteer, and run training responsibilities.  If we want to do it all, we need to learn to balance it all.

The runner quoted above doesn’t have a time goal for her race and she is happy with doing what she can do with the time that she can commit to training.  I get runners that are aiming to run a personal best, qualify for the Boston Marathon, and runners like my example runner.  Any type of runner is cool with me, as long as each individual is honest with him/herself, including understanding their inherent ability as a runner.  You can train to your ceiling, your natural level of ability, but what that is for me and what that is for runner A, B, C….is different and more importantly, the process to find out what that is takes time and requires both patience and persistence. 

In addition to run training, nutrition, health and fitness, future blogs will cover really important topics that help runners achieve their goals, such as realistic goal-setting, ways to foster self-efficacy, which is confidence in your ability to achieve intended results, and learning how to identify one’s barriers to success. 

Lots of great information coming in the following weeks, months, and hopefully years, so keep checking the website regularly!  Next up, we will be taking a look at injuries in our distant running community.  Until then, happy running and feel free to email me if there are any topics you wish to be covered in the future or need some immediate questions answered.

Fight ON,
Coach Gina

Runner Image: Art Santos