Adapting Running Expectations
It can be really difficult to adapt with change. Sometimes change can just knock you right on your ass. Then you’ll sit there for awhile and be frustrated that change is occuring. Change is inevitable unfortunately…. or fortunately. Think about the times when you felt the most free or engaged in your life. Was it when everything was going smoothly and life was easy? Or you felt the most connected when you were out of your comfort zone and having to dig deep. Lets think about this in context of a race. There are times when races go really smoothly and you hit all your splits, and dial in all your nutrition and race strategy perfectly. Then there are times when something happens in your race and it derails your focus. Maybe you fall, or maybe a storm hits, or your nutrition doesn’t go as expected, or maybe a freaking train stops in the middle of a road crossing during your race. It happened to a bunch of folks in the 2009 Portland Marathon (I agree that would be a tough one to bounce back from)!
Those are the races where you likely learn a ton about yourself. I remember in the 2013 Bandera 100k. I had expectations to get top 3. I ended up 4th. During the first half of the race I was so nervous, that I literally felt terrible. I couldn’t hang with the guys I had planned on running with. It was 80 degrees and drizzle in January. I spent the first half of the race thinking about quitting. At the half way point Joe Prusaitis gives me a quick thoughts as I am asserting my uncertainty of finishing. He said, “Erik, Running is just like life. There are ups and downs, but you just gotta keep going.” That stuck with me for a long time, and its still something I remember when running and life get challenging.
I still wanted to quit the race though. The next aid station was 5-6 miles out and I started to walk. I got hit with a ton of anxiety and panic as I had decided it was probably unhealthy for me to continue running. Surely my heart rate or blood pressure or something was off. I checked my pulse and…. Oh yeah there it was…. I just decided it must be really high, and if I continued I might die. I walked up and down the same hill 3 times crying, talking myself in and out of quitting. Then all of a sudden a little angel runner came along. Gary Gelin ran up on me and told me to hop on with him. He told me others were dropping and it was a super tough day with the conditions. He also helped convince me it would be easier to drop out at the next aid station than to walk back from where I was. So I stuck with him. We talked and shared stories, and wouldn’t you know it by the next aid station I was feeling better. I decided to keep on going. He and I ran together for the majority of that second half. I finished and it was the best feeling I had to finish the race. That was one of the hardest races and challenges I’ve dealt with during a race, but it taught me that no matter what comes my way, I have the tools to continue.
Think about what is really important to you right now. Is it that you are in peak shape for the next race? Is it that you have a balance of your training and time with your family. Is it that you lose weight, eat healthy, find a partner, a new job. Whatever is important to you, take action on it. Find gratitude for the opportunities and when something isn’t working out, try a different approach.
I have been struggling to get all of the things in my day done. I wanted to complain and sit on my butt (and I do that sometimes), but the other I decided that I just needed to adapt. So instead of turning of watching Monsters Inc for the 5th day in a row with my 2 yr old son, I decided Wyatt and I were going to make it work. I had him get out his kid lawn mower and told him to follow behind me when I mowed the grass. When he got tired or bored, I picked him up and put him on my shoulders. I just found ways to adapt, and we got the yard done. I’ve been recovering from an achilles injury and have stopped running. I decided I would start walking with wyatt. So we are going on longer walks now, and when he gets tired or needs a break I just pop him up on my shoulders. I know this isn’t going to be the case everyday, but the times that I do adapt and continue moving forward I feel much more empowered and at the end of the day happy.
In my opinion the only time you really fail is when you do nothing. We don’t know what tomorrow, next month, next year has in store, but there will be times when you need to adapt. Remember that life with struggle is a life well lived! So just as the old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” goes, keep on moving. Reset or possibly throw out old expectations. Find new opportunities. They’re out there, you just gotta be looking.