In my short running career, I continue to learn many new things along the way.
One of them being about my "perceived" limitations and how they affect my running. The real breakthrough is not how they affect my running, but how they affect my life as a whole.
I'm currently training for the Rock n Roll Marathon in New Orleans on March 4, 2017. I'm really lucky to be training with a group of amazing runners. It is 5 of us total. We call ourselves the Wolfpack. That itself is a long story and I will write another post about it later :)
We usually do speed workouts on Wednesday nights. Last night I learned alot about myself and my "perceptions". Sometimes what you think about yourself and your abilities is merely a limit you put on yourself. Last night was no exception.
"Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion." -Michael Jordan
We were doing 1K repeats on the track. It was at night and there were no lights. The cool thing was that it was a full moon and the light from the moon lit our path.
Coach said we were going to do each 1K repeat (1,000 meters) in 3 minutes and 20 seconds. That equates to 5:20 per mile pace. My first thought was... That is way faster than I've ever gone. My first reaction was I don't think I can get anywhere close to that.
Mistake number #1: Creating a limit on yourself before you even try it.
How often do we do this in life? In hindsight, I can endlessly list times I've done this in all areas.
We warmed up with an easy mile and did some light stretching. Now it was time to get after it. A quick background on the Wolfpack. It's 5 of us and 3 of the guys have already qualified for the Boston Marathon multiple times. I'm in really good company. Myself and Coach are the only ones that have not.
On a side note, we ran a marathon in December and all qualified BUT... the qualification was nulled after the race director made a big mistake and the course was .3 miles short. Wow... DEVASTATED would be an understatement. I should probably write a post about this also. I will be sure to do that.
I ran a sub 3 hour marathon that day. I beat my previous best by over 10 minutes. Most people would be angry, but we decided to use it as fuel. So here we are still training.
Back to our training last night... Well my first thoughts was that I could not do the workout (or even get close to the times). Sometimes you just gotta face the demons and step up. That's what happened :)
Although I didn't nail the workout perfectly, I did my best and shattered my preconceptions of my capabilities. Sometimes you just gotta go for it and see what happens. You might even surprise yourself.
I know to some of you these times may be slow, but it sure was WAAAAAAAAY out of my comfort zone. It hurt like hell, but I'm glad we did it. I'm glad it hurt.
There is no growth in the comfort zone. If you want to grow as a person, you must find ways to ride the edge of your comfort zone and cross over that line. Every moment outside of your comfort will be very uncomfortable, but the longer you can stay there the more growth can occur. Eventually your comfort zone grows a little bigger and you expand as a human being.
Every time you find yourself uncomfortable take a moment to explore it. Think about how it feels. Think about your emotions. Review your thoughts. Instead of retreating immediately, let it in. Feel it inside and out. Know that you are growing.
Success is usually directly proportionate with the amount of discomfort you can handle.
"The cave you fear the most to enter contains the treasure you seek." -Joseph Campbell
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If you'd like to keep up with my training follow me on Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/14654723
After we finish this marathon I'm going to start training full time for ultra marathons, so that should be fun :)