Doing my best for my Personal Worst
breathing in and out
Hi guys!! The blog has been crickets this month and for good reason... we got married! We had the most amazing day surrounded by our loved ones before jetting off to Mallorca, Barcelona, and The Azores. Three weeks of giggly, glowy newlywed bliss. Special thanks to all of our family and friends who made our union so special!!
But since this is an illustrated running blog, let's talk running shall we?
The day after we landed, I was welcomed home by ...drum roll... a 5K time trial test! We use this test as a way of checking in on our fitness and picking our training paces for other workouts. Normally, I would have found this pretty fun- but after three weeks of zero running, copious amounts of wine, and excessive cheese consumption...
Not so much?
I had to fight hard for what would end up being my Personal Worst time in the 5K, pushing more mentally than I ever did for my faster times. I fought to convince myself that it was going to be ok, that my ankle would not snap, that I could run this in my sleep. I even ran/walked the whole second half. It was, in fact, my personal, personal worst.
I had to try hard. I did try hard. When I ran my faster times, I didn't really think about it. Sure, I had to move my legs, but the mental struggle was not there. I could let my body take over, trained and happy to push the pace.
But this Personal Worst required me to persevere. To struggle, and survive. To be unsure and uncomfortable and do it anyway. In this way, I left it all out on the course. I dropped my guts on Center Drive and left my ego on the North Hill.
For this, I am very proud of my 5K time trial. It forced me to be the best version of myself, even if it was only to do my worst.
Sometimes, when things turn upside down, whether your workouts, your relationships, or your job, it's easy to tie yourself to the outcome. But the truth is that the outcome is not as important as how much we try, and I'm thankful for that reminder. It is easy to do well when you are rewarded, and much harder to keep up the positivity when everything seems to slide in the wrong direction.
Last week, as I ran my PW in the 5K time trial, I was surrounded by the most amazing teammates a runner could have. They cheered me across the finish, and reminded me that we are out here not to run, but to run for a cause. That the end product doesn't matter as much as getting to the start. And, sometimes, things just stink, but with the right attitude you can turn a personal worst into a personal best.
And a cold beer always helps.
My team raises money for LLS, help us hit our goals by donating here.