I really want to get faster. Or maybe I just think that I do?
I was discussing this with my friend, and former "trainer" the other night after a group run. He told me there is no reason for me not to be running faster. Since he knows what I am capable of, I try to believe him. We ran track together in high school, so he knows that deep down inside of me, there is speed. He helped me train for my first triathlon. He watched how much I grew in one season. He says the only reason I'm not reaching my potential is because I don't want it bad enough. That I'm not hungry enough. That I'm not willing to suffer. I tried arguing with him. I do really want it. I want to place in my age group. I want to pass people in the wave before me, not get passed by people in the wave after me.
But, today, looking at what I've accomplished this year, I think he might be right. I don't want it bad enough. I have too many excuses. Too many reasons why I can't, and maybe, not enough reasons why I can.
Last year, my very first year of doing anything, I ran three 5ks, 1 10k, and competed in 2 sprint triathlons. And I got faster with every race. My very first 5k ever, less than 6 months after I decided to become a runner, I finished in 29:23. Not bad, if you ask me. 2 months later, my 5k at the end of my first sprint tri was 27:45, and a month and half later, at my second sprint tri, my 5k, with a cramp in my calf so bad I couldn't walk when I got off the bike, was 27:10. A month later I ran 26:48 and came in 2nd in my age group in a 5k.
This year, I planned on breaking 25 minutes by the end of the year. If I went from 29 to 26 in a matter of months, this should be easy. But, I haven't really tried. I ran one 5k this year, and it was at the Iron Girl in August. At the end of my one and only tri this season, I ran my only 5k of the season at 26:37.
It's now the middle of November. I haven't done one stand alone 5k. But I've had a "reason" for not doing all of the ones I planned on. But those reasons are not really reasons, they are excuses. I have 6 weeks left to run a 5k in under 25 minutes. And there is no excuse for me not to do just that. There are at least 4 5ks that I can sign up for between now and the end of the year. I am promising you, and more importantly myself, that I will do at least 2 of them. And I will dig deep, and make myself suffer, so I know that I gave it my all.
He's not right. I do want it.
I was discussing this with my friend, and former "trainer" the other night after a group run. He told me there is no reason for me not to be running faster. Since he knows what I am capable of, I try to believe him. We ran track together in high school, so he knows that deep down inside of me, there is speed. He helped me train for my first triathlon. He watched how much I grew in one season. He says the only reason I'm not reaching my potential is because I don't want it bad enough. That I'm not hungry enough. That I'm not willing to suffer. I tried arguing with him. I do really want it. I want to place in my age group. I want to pass people in the wave before me, not get passed by people in the wave after me.
But, today, looking at what I've accomplished this year, I think he might be right. I don't want it bad enough. I have too many excuses. Too many reasons why I can't, and maybe, not enough reasons why I can.
Last year, my very first year of doing anything, I ran three 5ks, 1 10k, and competed in 2 sprint triathlons. And I got faster with every race. My very first 5k ever, less than 6 months after I decided to become a runner, I finished in 29:23. Not bad, if you ask me. 2 months later, my 5k at the end of my first sprint tri was 27:45, and a month and half later, at my second sprint tri, my 5k, with a cramp in my calf so bad I couldn't walk when I got off the bike, was 27:10. A month later I ran 26:48 and came in 2nd in my age group in a 5k.
This year, I planned on breaking 25 minutes by the end of the year. If I went from 29 to 26 in a matter of months, this should be easy. But, I haven't really tried. I ran one 5k this year, and it was at the Iron Girl in August. At the end of my one and only tri this season, I ran my only 5k of the season at 26:37.
It's now the middle of November. I haven't done one stand alone 5k. But I've had a "reason" for not doing all of the ones I planned on. But those reasons are not really reasons, they are excuses. I have 6 weeks left to run a 5k in under 25 minutes. And there is no excuse for me not to do just that. There are at least 4 5ks that I can sign up for between now and the end of the year. I am promising you, and more importantly myself, that I will do at least 2 of them. And I will dig deep, and make myself suffer, so I know that I gave it my all.
He's not right. I do want it.
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