Second Chances

30
Jan
2012
By

My intent was to run three miles on the treadmill; strong, swift and without my shoes.

I stopped at 1.2 miles however and turned the machine off. I just didn’t have it in me. The run felt way too forced, and I felt weak and clumsy (which could lead to disaster if running on a treadmill).

We’ve heard that there is no such thing as a bad run. We know that the miles logged teach countless life lessons…But we must also appreciate the fact that all runs are not created equal.

I cut my run short but didn’t feel bad about it. I didn’t feel guilty. Or upset. Or off-track. I wasn’t going to beat myself up, call the run a failure or go sulk in a corner.

It is what it is.

Someone once told me that “second chances are fabulous.” And I believe that.

So I ran again that night and kicked out more miles on the treadmill; strong, swift and without my shoes.

When you are less than pleased with a run – whether it be on the treadmill or road; short or long distance – how do you deal with it? What do you tell yourself? How do you attack your next run?

  • http://twitter.com/GoSportID Kase Noland

    It is almost inevitable that each week I will have a run that I don’t feel great about. I’ll feel slow, like I am running on sand even though I am pounding it out on the hard concrete streets of Houston. Some days I just don’t have it in me; my lungs suck in air without much success and I only get through a couple miles before my legs feel like dead weight. I don’t make excuses. I just take it for what it is. That day I didn’t have it. That moment I didn’t have it. I don’t let it get to me, I just lace up the shoes and go after it again (although, maybe with a little more determination).

    • http://twitter.com/bikerly Jim (@bikerly)

      Hi Kase! 

      In a former life I worked in an ICU where people didn’t breath unless they were connected to the respirator. 

      Your comment brought me back to these days, and the look patients had on their face when I had to disconnect them (for suctioning of their tube) from the ventilator. 

      When I have bad runs I think about the people who wish they could run again and likely never will…puts things in double perspective for me. 

      No day is a guarantee, no run should be taken for granted, although I often forget this.

      Thanks to you and Kelly for reminding me how lucky I am to run…and breathe.

  • Jessiemp22

    Thanks for posting this.  I always, always feel guilty if I give up on a run.  I feel like I’m not a true runner if I stop and just try again later.  This post helped me a lot!

  • http://twitter.com/RunningBecause David H.

    If I have a bad run and I’m not hurt, I just go right back out there. The next one will usually be much better!

  • Mtbob70

    Similar experience, but outside. I was in the middle of a three-miler and going through the gauntlet portion of it toward the end, with lots of elevation gain and loss. Back had been bugging me, and just got worse. Stopped to walk a couple hundred yards, which chapped me good. But I was able to bring it in, and in the end I still got a great workout. Sometimes you just have a bad day.

  • http://www.coffeeforthebrain.blogspot.com Aaron Maurer

    It is hard to admit when things should be stopped. Kudos to you for recognizing when it to call it a day.

  • http://www.facebook.com/neify Mike Neifert

    Thanks for reminding us of this truth! It’s okay to stop if we don’t feel like it or if a run is going poorly.

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