With the pandemic raging, my hot chocolate 15K race today was virtual. I really thought about not doing it this year or reducing the distance. I had all the excuses in my head last night. 🙂
Excuses to Skip the Run
- My friend who has always ran with me decided not to do it today. She was worried about her knees, which have been hurting
- I haven’t trained for this 15K, although that has been the case for the last 6 years.
- My left calf and ankle feel super tight from the last few weeks of moving. Yes, we moved apartments in San Francisco. It took 10 days of packing, unpacking and lots of standing and walking.
- There won’t be a crowd! I love the energy of the other runners and that usually gave me the energy to finish this run.
- There won’t be any water or marshmallow stations to reenergize during the run
I can go on with my list of excuses but you get the idea. On the other hand, I had some good reasons to do the run
Good Reasons to Do the Run
- I told a colleague I was going to do this run this weekend. He said he will ask me about it next week. I didn’t want to say I didn’t do it.
- I didn’t want to break my streak of running every year
- The natural high afterwards is the just the BEST
- I will feel very accomplished no matter how long it would take me to run it.
- I will likely feel bummed if I didn’t go the full distance.
The Compromise
I debated in my head last night, but decided to compromise with a plan A and Plan B
- Plan A – Run from my house to Ghirardelli square and back and walk the rest. The run to Ghirardelli square and back is about 5 miles or 9K. If my calf really feels bad, then I would walk the rest of the way to 15K. I even told my husband I will text him an hour into the race to see if he should join me for the last 6K as a walk and talk journey toward Oracle Park and back.
- Plan B – Run the full 15K. Perhaps my body is more prepared than my mind think it is. Perhaps I will get a runners high. Perhaps I won’t be able to just give up and walk as I get close to my goal.
What Happened
Plan B prevailed to my own surprise. I feel fantastic that I kept up my annual tradition. I was rewarded with the “natural high” I am feeling now. I also treated myself to hot chocolate and a hot bath at home. All in all, it was a great experience even though I ran it alone and I started out feeling quite tight in my legs and feet.
It took me 1 hour 43 minutes to do this year’s 15K. While this was 4 minutes longer than my slowest time in the last six year, I feel elated that I finished the run at all. It’s the effort and the journey that counted. I actually really enjoyed the run, much more so than I expected.
4 Lessons Learned
I learned 4 lessons due to this run. The overall lesson was – I can do anything as I put my mind toward it.
Lesson 1: Mental preparation helped significantly. Yesterday, I pictured in my mind both plan A and B. I started visualizing myself starting and running toward Ghirardelli square and back. Once I played that in my head a few times, it helped my body prepare for the actual run. I saw myself passing the Exploratorium, Fisherman’s Wharf, to the beach in front of Ghirardelli square that had a perfect view of Golden Gate Bridge. I then pictured myself coming back and heading toward Oracle park. I looked it up and if I run straight, the round trip of both of these would only get me to 7.5 miles. This means I also need to get scenic in my path to make it to 15K.
Lesson 2: I kept my 15K goal flexible. This lowered my stress. I didn’t mentally force myself to run the whole 15K If my body didn’t feel right in the middle of it, I wanted the option to back off and still finish the 15K. This was my Plan A. I also made a few other strategic choices in my head
- I chose a mostly flat route. The 15K in golden gate park that we usually run has a 3 miles hilly portion. I was okay to not mimic it 100%. The goal was to finish and not be hardcore. This gave my tight calf some relief as well. I rather not finish if I was going to really hurt my calf long term.
- I had flexibility to run some scenic spots – Given the round trip between Ghirardelli square and Oracle Park was only 7.5 miles, I knew I had to run some scenic areas along the way. This actually made my run more fun. I ran inside fisherman wharf and said hi to the sea lion. I ran out onto the walking platform and took a nice photo of Alcatraz island. I ran out to another platform on the other side of Ghirardelli square to reach my first 5k distance.
Lesson 3: I got creative in order to re-hydrate. I really missed those stations in the actual run that gave us water, sports drinks, and marshmallows. During my virtual run, I didn’t have any of that. I debated where to stop to buy something and decided on Safeway. It was right by my house and I knew exactly where the coconut water was, so it would only add 2 min to my run. It was about 6 miles into the run which was probably okay.
I miscalculated a little as I was pretty thirsty and tired by 5.5 miles; however the thought of getting the Harmless coconut water kept me going. I chugged a small one quickly and within a few seconds felt reenergized. The next mile ended up to be my fastest. I can feel my body singing with joy of the electrolyte and natural sugar from the drink.
Lesson 4: I don’t need to ever run alone. Even though my friend didn’t run with me, I decided to find a 15K guided run on Nike plus. That was the best decision. Coach Bennett was amazing all along the way. I actually learned a bit more about how to be patient and more relaxed along this run. I knew it was going to be a long run. I listened to Coach Bennett and focused on the aspects he highlighted along the way. As an achiever, I also loved the fact that Nike Plus gave me the marker along with Coach Bennett. Once I got to 8K, I knew I can finish it and decided to go for Plan B – run all the way vs walk part of the way. My last 5K was less painful than I expected. It was so beautiful to run along the Embarcadero.
Overall, I learned that the most important thing is to try even if something seems very hard. It’s about the journey as well as the end result. By being flexible and creative, the journey was less stressful and much more fun. Whatever you may want to achieve next in life and at work, just go for it. Whatever you can do is better than not trying at all! Best wishes in 2021.
Your comments: What is that something you want to do next but you are not sure you can do it? perhaps it’s time to try it. I look forward to your comments and questions
Your comments: Do you have an inner voice that tells you that you are not enough? Do you where it comes from and how to ignore it? I look forward to hearing from you.
Like this article? Please share it with your friends and colleagues on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc…
New to this Site? Start here – How to Succeed like an Executive
I am always in your corner.
Lei
Lei