I am not really into running. In fact, once the lungs start to feel funny and the usual aches starts to come on I feel like I want to stop, walk and quit.
Today was different. Today I set out to prove to myself that I can really do it and go farther than I've ever gone before on any run. The longest I've attempted to run was around 4ish miles and that was on the road I ran on today. At the end of the road is a T-intersection with a stop sign which measures out to be around 3miles or so from where I start (I ran a little bit before I started on my "6" miler so it all adds up to 6 or so). After I approached the 2 mile point I thought well this is as far as I can go why not just stop, turn around, and walk back? At that point I didn't feel pain just the normal discomfort of running but I said what the hell the stop sign is just a few steps away. Then I noticed the stop sign getting closer and closer and I finally went up to touch it and I thought to myself again I could just walk back and it would be so easy.
Something funny happened at this point and my body responded and I turned around to run at the same pace right back to the starting point. I didn't have a water bottle with me (kind of stupid I know) so I was feeling it about now but luckily my body started to compensate with some endorphins. A thought crept up to my mind thinking that the run back will be a lot tougher than the run to get to the stop sign. While this may be true I said to myself that I will simply adjust my pace, slow down a bit, save some energy to compensate. As I was running back I saw the 2mile point and thought well I surpassed myself and now I just have to keep on going.
The experience of 'going home' is quite familiar to me as I've done something like this on the lake last Summer. It was my second time Kayaking during last summer when I said to myself that I will Kayak to the end of the lake and back which turned out to be a 12mile journey that took a good 6-7 hours. The return journey on the Kayak was tough as the Sun was setting and I was dehydrated after exhausting my supply of water but I said to myself that if I don't make it back I might die. The body always has some level of reserve kept for these special moments and the journey back was simply a matter of willpower and the battle was fought in my mind. I overcame my own mind and rowed back to home.
So after thinking about my Kayak journey my run became a lot easier. On my Kayak trip I made a habit of counting my oar strokes and guestimated my distance. On my run I thought well that point up there is only a few steps away so I just need to keep my legs moving and I would get there. The temptation to quit got a lot worse the closer I got to the starting point (quit as in walking) but I thought to myself I already took so many steps why stop now? This is how I made the last part of my trip and pushed through until the very end. Afterwords I did walk a bit so as to not pass out but at that point I already finished and was tempted to keep running!
Lesson of the day: Keep going no matter what. Use previous experiences to motivate and build up confidence and the endurance necessary to go greater distances.
Evening: Leg workout :D
Just kidding! Going to move that to tomorrow morning.
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