Every Wednesday, the Deb from Deb Runs will be providing a word about which to blog. Kind of like a nice little blog prompt. Posts can be fitness or health related, but don’t have to be, so really anyone can play along. Just be sure to link up with InLinkz on Deb’s main post, and share the love by reading and commenting on other’s participant’s posts.
This week’s Word is PERSPECTIVE
or according the dictionary, “a sensible way of judging how good, bad, important, etc. something is in comparison with other things.”
We stress about weather forecasts.
We get anxious about running hills.
We worry about our paces, our PRs, our split times…
We compare ourselves to other runners.
So how do we keep our running in perspective?
- Don’t take running for granted.
Just think back to the last time you were injured. Think about those who cannot run.
this is vivid in my mind
- Forget about the current weather conditions.
When you’re cold, think back to when it was too hot and humid to run.
a cold and wet one, for sure
When you’re sweating out there, think back to when you couldn’t run because of the ice and snow.
the opposite – hot & humid
- Run for fun.
Leave the Garmin home. Run without thinking about your pace. Just enjoy the scenery or your thoughts.
Garmin was dead…oh well!
- Accept things that you cannot control.
Accept that if you are aging, you will get slower.
this may be my half PR. the 4 after have been much slower
There will be days that your runs suck and then there will be runs that are great.
ugh…done!
Some runners are just naturally faster (even without trying.)
- Get someone to start running.
Inspiring someone else to run, seeing someone cross the finish line for the first time will change how you feel about running.
- It’s only a training plan.
Plans are meant to be broken. There is no cookie cutter solution to running your best race. Adjust the plan to meet your needs. This may mean skipping runs or shortening distances.
- There will always be another race.
As soon as a disappointing race is over, sign up for another.
You can learn from your mistakes but you shouldn’t dwell on them. We always do our best but sometimes our best isn’t enough.
Happy Running! How do you keep your running in perspective?
My First 5K and More... 
Love your take on Wednesday Word. I love this quote on Some people would kill for your bad day, this really spoke to me. I see this all the time and I can relate people complaining about their sub 10 pace and I’m like I would love to be able to do that on a consistent basis. But then I step back and think, my pace is MY pace. 🙂
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Yes so true. I am guilty too of complaining about my pace because so many runners are faster. I have to remember than so many runners are slower, too.
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Great post on perspective! Whenever I have a bad run, I always think about how lucky I am to be running at all!
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Excellent post Darlene! I vow to never take running for granted ever again! Or care about pace or anything else. I will run to just run. And I can’t wait!
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and you will and unfortunately, I said that too and eventually we will care about pace.
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I spend some portion of every run — including today — being thankful that I CAN run.
But thinking about the cold runs when it’s hot doesn’t help me. Still haven’t figured out how to overcome the heat! Probably not something I’ll have to worry about for a long, long time.
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No you won’t. I so love the heat….
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So many great points here about keeping things in perspective. I especially like the “inspire others” points – you may feel like that snail but to others you truly are a hero and a role model. Never take it for granted and you’ll always find running to be amazing.
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Very good points. I like the weather one. Whenever I’m shivering and cold about to get in the water in a triathlon in cool weather, I force myself to think about the meltdowns I have had running at the end of the tri in heat. It does help keep it in perspective.
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Ah, yes, it’s always good to look at another perspective before complaining! Thank you for pointing that out with great examples.
Thank you for linking up!
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What a great and inspiring post! Glad I started joining this link-up!
I just recently blogged about a run I did where I struggled through and wasn’t all that happy with my results. But somehow I kept my running in perspective by looking up and seeing my beautiful surroundings. I love the ideas you laid out here and I am definitely remembering them in the future before I try to make excuses or complaints about my own runs!
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