I am participating in the 13 in 2013 Race Challenge, and as I updated my last few races into the spreadsheet this morning I realized that I have completed 12 of the 13 races already! I was completely floored! It’s so hard to believe how much my life has changed in the last three years when I set my goal to run that first 5K race. Now it’s half way through 2013, and I have completed 12 races. AMAZING! This is something I could have never imagined doing in my life. But there is still so much I want to accomplish.
The races I participated in so far this year have not been to set a personal record. I know that I run slower now than I did last year. Unfortunately I am still dealing a back injury, so I am not able to push myself as much as I did in the past. That is so frustrating! I get so mad that I can’t do things that were so easy for me last year. I have found myself getting into a funk and going to some really dark places.
I am still working on the realization that my limits have changed and I am not going to see any progress if I don’t let my back heal completely. My biggest fear is that it will never get better and I will have to deal with this pain for the rest of my life.
In one of my moments of clarity (when I am not thinking like a crazy person) I decided that success for me right now is to just stay active and not slip into a couch potato coma.
So many days I find myself getting discouraged at my lack of progress with my strength and running speed. I am my own worst critic and I am way harder on myself than I would ever be on anyone else. But aren’t we all? When I looked at that spreadsheet with my races filled in I actually felt a little proud of myself. It’s been a long time since I felt that way. I gave myself a little pat on the back.
It’s so easy to beat ourselves MYSELF up for our MY failures, and we I sometimes forget to recognize our MY accomplishments (no matter how small). So with the second half of the year I have decided to really focus on all my mini “wins”. This isn’t something that I feel the need to share with everyone. I just need to stay conscious of it and not just focus on my setbacks.
If you have ever gone through something like this I would love to hear how you handled it. It’s always nice to know we aren’t alone when dealing with setbacks.
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