Life is Like a Training Run

I used to think life was like a race.
I used to believe you could prepare, plan, and train for it, starting with picking a race. You begin with your base training, which starts 12 to 16 weeks out from your goal race. Next, you make your way into hills, pace work, intervals, then onto track work and finally tapering off for the big day. You visualize your day. How you will wake up, what you will eat, which lucky socks you will wear. You imagine yourself in your warmup, toeing the line, starting when the gun fires, and making passes manuevering for the best position, taking care not to get blocked in. You can even study your opponents, knowing how they race, what psychs them out, when is the best time to pass them. Race day comes, you show up, you listen to your coach, you perform, you may or may not be happy with your performance, but you did it. Now what? Well, you do a cool down so that you can help remove the lactic acid from your legs for optimal recovery. Why? Well, of course, because the next race is next weekend and you have to be fresh!

Life can be much the same. We are always looking to the next big thing in our lives or on our calendars. We prepare for these things, sometimes a little everyday, or sometimes cramming it in at the last minute. We look forward to things coming up, counting down the days, watching what we eat to fit into that awesome new dress, baking dozens of Christmas cookies to ensure the "best Christmas ever," and planning our perfect dream wedding. But when it's over, then what? On to the next thing? But, what if it didn't go as we had planned? What if that happens almost everytime? What if every race is a flop?
Does it mean you didn't plan very well?
Does it mean you expect too much?
Does it mean you are a crappy runner?

Or does it mean you didn't appreciate the work up to that point for what it was:
You didn't lick your fingers when you made those awesome cookies because you were worried about the calories and your awesome new dress that you have to fit into in a couple of weeks. You didn't buy the dress in the size that was right for you because you let society convince you that you should be smaller. Your wedding was one day and you are not noticing the every day wonder of your husband's bad morning breath, the soft touch of his hand on your arm at night while you sleep, the smell of his cologne when he is fresh after a shower, or the simple task of having the priviledge of putting his cereal bowl out for him every morning.

You didn't appreciate the smell of the rain on the asphalt as you did that training run in the cold and the dark. You didn't take that quiet moment to feel your muscles working and celebrate the power of you moving forward regardless of your speed. You didn't embrace the cool air as it came into your lungs and filled you with oxygen that our awesome earth provides. You didn't treasure the fact that your heart is still beating in your chest after all you have done to stop it.

If we live life, always preparing for the next race, we have the tendancy to neglect how much we could enjoy the everyday preparations. "Why, if I plan for these things, do they never turn out the way I planned?" you may ask. We can become depressed and wonder what it's all for. If we do not take care of our bodies, our souls, our minds, and our loved ones, then no big event will ever be what we want it to be. How can Christmas be magical if we don't let ourselves believe in the miracle of the story? How can our family come together for a perfect family affair if we've neglected to let them know all year long how important they are with our everyday actions?


No, life is not like a race. It is sometimes about a race.

Life is like a training run.

We have runs going on all the time. We do some runs because we have to. We do other runs because we want to. There are runs that all go on at the same time. And we have to take care!! When we do this, sometimes we have no choice because life is complicated, we are prone to injury. If we don't pay attention to our bodies and our minds, then we could end up with something chronic. We become overly focused on the big events in life and they will evetually start to lose meaning.

Sometimes we run in the rain. Sometimes, it's cold, it's dark, and we are much too sleepy to be out pounding the pavement. Sometimes it hurts. We get a cramp in our side, we feel sick to our stomachs because we pushed it too hard, we can't see the end of the hill. Sometimes we lose someone we love. Life is about this. It is about the sweat, the effort, the pain, and the joy of the feat! It is about knowing that there will be an end to every run and being okay with that. Some runs, we are ready for them to be over before they start. Some runs are so painful that we can't see the end in sight... but it will come. Before we realize it we are over half way there and then we can see the house. Aren't you glad you did it? Even if some of it sucked? Aren't you proud?

Life is about the training run. The everyday.
Live it, Love it, Kick Some Ass.