Recommit to the Work
This photo sums up exactly how my race last Sunday went. I ran 1:03:27 for ten miles and finished 8th. Last month I wrote that my goal for this race was to run under 59 minutes and be top 10. While I was top 10, it would be wrong to call this race a success. I was worlds away from running under 59 minutes.
Immediately after the race, I started looking for the reason why I ran so slow. I went to the Denver Nuggets vs. San Antonio Spurs Game 7 the night before. That was emotionally draining, kept me up late, and I had a couple beers at the game. Maybe that’s why I felt like I didn’t have any gas?
I’ll admit that an NBA Playoffs Game 7 is not an ideal pre-race activity, but I know that blaming my race on that is bullshit. I knew the reason why my race did not go the way I wanted. I knew why I was not even close to my goal.
The truth was I had not put it in the work to reach my goal. I was not even close to putting in enough work to achieve my goal. And for weeks I had been hiding from that truth. I had been telling people that I still had some fitness from my marathon. I had been telling myself that just by getting in a run after school and track practice was enough to get me to where I want to goal.
This race forced me to face the truth. I ran the first mile in 6:17 and knew I was toast. I knew right away that I was going to run slow. Truth be told, I had known for weeks that I was going to run slow. All I had to do was look at my running log. I had only run 10 out of 14 days leading up to the race. A month before the race, I took 4 days off.
And it is fine that I took those days off. It is fine for me to only run 10 out of 14 days. But if I am doing those things, then I need to reset my goals. A goal like running under 59 minutes for ten miles requires that I be 100% committed to that goal. I was not 100% committed and that’s why I missed my goal by so much.
I needed this race to confront that truth. I needed to be reminded that if I have big goals in running, I need to put in a ton of work to get there. So moving forward, I’m committing to putting in more work. I have big goals for the summer of running and in order to accomplish those goals, I need to recommit to the work.
It’s time to start grinding. It’s time to start putting in some serious miles. It’s time to start doing the hard workouts.
I wrote this piece just to say to myself that I am recommitting to doing the work.
I am trying to return to a more regular writing practice and I hope you will continue following me on this journey. I love you.
Tucker
