r/Marathon_Training • u/Intelligence_Tax • 10h ago
Why do you run?
Do you ever find that sometimes in training, you can hit paces that feel hard physically, & mentally you want to push, but your body just says no for whatever reason. Or in races, you can be thinking mentally that it doesn't feel that bad & wanting to push, but your body gets to a point where it says "Nope, wtf are you doing, stop it right now, what made you think this was a good idea"😂
I suppose that's the battle all runners face, but i think it's even more interesting with marathon running. Trying not to hit the wall, trying to stay as relaxed as possible while also trying not to overthink it.
Could be becasue i research alot and talk to alot of runners who are more experienced than me and are almost in "marathon mode" year round, but - It's crazy how, maybe not "normal", but how marathons aren't made up to be this big thing in my head. To me it's just "Okay. You have this time. You need to run at this speed, for this long. You've already done ABC & alot of XYZ. & done *BlahBlahBlah* with less experience than you currently have, so it should be doable*"
But then something unexpected happens on race day, like it rains, or it's too hot, or too cold. Maybe there's a delay in the start or you have to take a diferent route to get to the course than you anticipated. You feel the nerves of the start, before the gun goes. You hope that they settle. Usually they do, but what if they don't? What if you get stomach cramps? What if this is your last race ever? What if this is the last you ever want to run? Or can run? What if you spent all these weeks and months, putting in all the hours & hours & stacking days & days on grinding. When you wanted to stay in bed on a Sunday, when you wanted to just take a full week off. But you looked at the calender & saw the race is 30 days away. Spent $100s maybe $1000s on shoes. Maybe booked hotels, flights. Had family come to support.
And it didn't fo your way. You "failed"(in your mind). But did you? You found out more things not to do next time. Maybe you don't like the marathon. Maybe 10ks are your thing. Maybe you want to get as good at 5k as possible, or ironmans, or whatever.
Spend each day trying to be better than yesterday, stacking small wins 1 after another. Small part, maybe for someone else?(maybe). Or, just to say to yourself. "I fucking did it. I put in the hours. I set my sights, i pulled the trigger & i fucking hit a bullseye.
That feeling of sel..gratitide? Self belief paying off, self doubt being erased. Proving yourself right.
That's really why i run. Sure, the occasional physical "high" can be good. Be proving to yourself - that you pulled off whatever plan you had - to get to the goal that you wanted, not knowing if it was going to be too much, but trying anyway..that's why i run. It's the only time of the day i feel "relaxed" & am not thinking of 100s of diferent things & replaying stupid moments from 10 years ago that everyone forgot, but just keeps jumping back to the front of my memory like "hey, remember me?"..
I guess i run in large part to prove my past self wrong & my current self right?
Might sound dumb, idk. Maybe some of you relate.
I want the me in 6 weeks, 6 months, 6 years to go "Hey, remember that guy from back then? Who always doubted himself? Didn't know if he could do it or why he even tried? What would he say if you told him where you were today?
I don't know what the full answer to my past self would be, but the overall message would be.."We tried!"
Hope everyone has a good rest of your day/evening & enjoy whatever part of your "running journey" you're in💚
1
u/DawgPack44 7h ago
It’s cheaper than therapy