Chronicles of the Grind: 16:57 Means to Me

I was hoping to get another blog up Sunday night, but I am writing this and it is already Monday night. I am not sure if I will even finish it tonight. But I needed some time to reflect on my running and I needed to give myself some time. Normally if I had a blog that I wanted to get up on Sunday, I would stay up late and force myself to get it done. I did not do that last night because it was the last night of my spring break and I am trying to not overwork myself these last eight weeks of school. I know it is going to be tough so I am trying to take care of myself and be kind to myself.

Taken minutes before this handsome boy went on to run a 16:57 5K.

Numbers

Finished last week with 73 miles

The biggest thing that happened to me was I ran a 16:57 5K

A little note about the 5K. I was thinking about entering since Wednesday but just was not sure. It was eight days out from my next half marathon and I thought that maybe I would be better served by doing a long, hard workout. Woke up early and just decided to say screw it, let’s give it a go. Flat and fast course, had a guy out there to battle with for first and in the end he got me but we both went under 17 minutes so we were happy.

Takeaways

If you’ve been following my journey on here for a while, then you know I’ve been aiming to run under 17 minutes in the 5K basically since graduating college. And I finally did it, which means a lot to me. So here is a list titled “What 16:57 Means to Me”:

1. Validation — Finally got this one done. I was right on the cusp on New Year’s Eve with a 17:02 but it has taken me another 3 months to get underneath 17 minutes. In the grand scheme of things, five seconds is not a big deal but to me this is big. It is a race that I can point to say I was successful and accomplished my goal. And that feels good since I haven’t said that about a race in a while.
2. Best 5K of my life? — Let me just start by saying I hate that I have these thoughts in my head and that I am going to put some qualifications on this race but here we go. My 5K personal best is 16:40 and it was done on a track (so flat surface), indoors (so perfect weather), and done at sea level (okay above sea level but at an elevation that does not matter in terms of running). Today’s race was done on the roads (not flat, does not give back like the track does), outdoors (so wind and a little chilly), and at elevation (people run faster at lower elevation and Denver is high enough to matter). So this race was not my personal best but was it a better race than my personal best? Ehhh, I’m not ready to make a declaration. But it is a good sign that it went so well.
3. This hard work is not for nothing — I texted my buddies after the race and something that my friend Ryan said to me has stuck with me since. He said “You have been working for it man the past 8 months.” And I had not really thought about it that way but really it is true. Since I really started taking running very seriously again this is something I have been chasing. And there were times in the past eight months where I’ve questioned what I was doing. Why am I still working really hard at this thing when I am only average? And I felt like I would never get to where I was trying to go. I am not ultimately at where I am trying to go but accomplishing a goal felt really great and if it takes eight months, I say eight months is worth it.
4. Confidence — Before the race, I was thinking to myself “what am I doing here?” I think this often on start lines just because I’m nervous but there was more to it. I knew that if I had a really bad race, my confidence would be shattered eight days before my second attempt at racing a half marathon. But I just had to push those thoughts away and go try to run my best. And I really got after it and now my confidence is high going into this half marathon.
5. Running fast is fun — It is really hard to get into good shape. It is simple, but simple ain’t easy. But being in really good shape is so fun. It is so fun to have days like this, so just keep working towards it.

Reader Question

Because this is Chronicles of the Grind I’ll give this next one a shot.

What does the grind mean to you?

The grind is the things you do in life that are not comfortable but need to get done. For me, that is teaching every day, getting both runs in, getting up early, writing this blog, etc. These things are all tied to productivity for me. So basically the grind to me is anything in my life that requires effort.

The grind is not binge watching shows on Netflix (tbh though I do most binge watching on Crunchyroll now). It is not eating dinner with friends. It is not drinking. It is not sleeping.

Here is what you need to know about me to understand the grind. I create narratives in my head all the time. The main narrative that I have created and continue to create is that I work harder than just about anybody I know. Whether or not this is true does not matter. I just need to believe that I have worked harder for me to have confidence.

Since this is a running blog, I’ll give you a running example. On the start line, I need to feel like I have outworked people to beat them in a race. It is just the way it is. I do not really consider myself a strong racer so I don’t ever go to the start line with the idea that I am just going to be tougher than you in the race and that is how I’ll win. I need to feel like I’ve outworked you, and that work will lead me to victory in this battle. Ideally, I could have both these mentalities but I just am not wired that way yet. So I need to “grind” my way to victories in running.

I appreciate you all reading and sending me feedback. Again I would love some more reader questions. You are great and I love you.

Tucker