Normally I have been posting after my 3rd run of the week. Postgrad Week 9 ended with a cold which left me flat out and so run 3 did not happen. Runs 1 and 2 were OK so I should be happy right!
Well yesterday I reluctantly started back at work after a glorious 3 week break and with my cold still hanging over me have not run for nearly a week. As I sat down this morning considering should I run or not I started to flick through my running App looking at mine and my running friends feeds and what paces they are doing.
After some pondering I looked back at my early and later C25K runs and the pace that I was achieving and the distances I was achieving in comparison to now. I consoled myself that I might be slow in comparison with others but if I compare myself with myself-3 months or even 1 month I am so much better than I was.
The point here is that we need to be careful comparing ourselves with each other we all have our own stories and issues to contend with and in reality the only person we should be comparing ourselves with is ourselves! Sometimes we may have good runs and sometimes bad ones but if necessary look back to before we started this programme and think of how far we have come on this journey. A journey begins with a single step and each run brings confidence allowing us to improve. For some improvements will be rapid and for some very slow. Set backs can and most probably will occur, the important thing is that we just need to get back up and run again when they occur (maybe after a short break on the IC if necessary).
My cold is annoying me - I have a cough to go with it and know from previous years that I might have it for a couple of months. If I remain gloomy I will not run for 2 - 3 months! Ha no way! What is good is that this year I have a desire to continue what I have started and am trying to stop myself going out until I am right - having said that I am considering a short lunchtime run! (Fingers crossed I can run my cough and cold out of town!)
Reading the posts on this forum, of peoples journeys and on my running app seeing how people are doing is inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
Happy running everyone and keep believing in yourselves.
Written by
Richard7
Graduate
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Yes definitely! The only person you should compare yourself too is yourself. As you said, you've come so far. How can you call yourself slow when you are so much faster than before? Anyway, Happy New Year to you. Keep going, and keep posting. I'm only a recent graduate so I'm in the same boat as you to keep motivated.
I have a buff which was given to me when I joined our local jog group. It carries our logo and I love it to pieces. I wear it always and would never use it to blow my hooter. It would be sacrilege. Ha ha
I think your point about not comparing ourselves with each other is an important one: it is but a short stride from there to over training, injury, giving up, not enjoying the activity, obsession...all symptoms of a common fallacy i.e. my body, circumstances, potential, body type, medical history etc. are directly relevant or even comparable to those of other people.
I have always loved sports and been involved in many for nearly fifty years (NOT running though!) but I have seen so many people's enjoyment and motivation destroyed because of an incurable need to prove themselves against some marker, often set without the requisite knowledge or preparation.
I threw javelin, played rugby, squash, martial arts, competitive Tug-O-War, basketball, volleyball, lifted weights, cycled long distance, swam long distance ...and more...because I just loved it. Still do. Always will.
But I've always been a loner and over the decades come to enjoy exclusively solo activities around swimming, hiking and cycling...even cycling has faded now as traffic terrifies me.
And I am an obsessive record keeper as what isn't measured can't be improved ( I still have diaries with details of training, distances etc from Seventies...sad or what?). But the only competition I have any interest in is with myself...I want to be as good as I can, but in full knowledge that the Time Fairies and fortune have set limits on what that might involve. I delight in seeing how well others can do but that doesn't influence me at all or drive me harder. When I was training for long cycle rides and swims there was ALWAYS somebody who who steamed up behind, desperate to overtake me: it took a while but I learned to just slow down and let them go.
Nowadays everyone overtakes me at everything. And that is fine: I will be too busy doing a bit better than I did yesterday to notice.
I have started this running relatively late in life and am content to chug along here on Poverty Bank for as long as I can...I don't even mind when the local Seniors Rambling Society overtake me...
...well, that would be funny if it wasn't actually true.
Thanks Paul - just had a peak at your profile and posts - good luck with the upcoming Grad runs ... on the home straight. I love the picture of the Time Fairies!
Wonderful reply to a lovely post. I run with a club on a Wednesday, but it's the slow group, and I'm happy to be anywhere in the pack (or usually behind it!), as long as I'm running at my own pace. I am happy to be a loner. For me it reduces pressure and increases the enjoyment of the activity and surroundings.
I did indeed Jan thanks for asking - it was a short one in length and time .. and consisted of a mixture of running and walking ... but it was good to be out ... and as misswobble said barely any coughing ... but its difficult blowing your nose on a run!
Sorry to hear youve not been well. And you are so right about not comparing yourself with others. My sister’s man is a keen runner (did the London Marathon in three and a half hours) and he says the only person you are competing with is yourself.
Great post Richard. You're right we all have our own journeys and goals to achieve. I remember when I started out I didn't tell anyone I know I was running (or jogging very slowly) because I was so afraid I wouldn't complete the programme. Now I bore everyone with it and I don't care if my pace is slow or I'm not running as far as anyone else or I'm not planning a half marathon in the Sumner - because for now I'm just amazed I'm out there 3 times a week running and enjoying it!
Hope your cold is better soon and that you managed that lunch time run 😊!
Thanks - lunchtime run done (bit of a run/Walk affair) - I think the fresh air did my cold a bit of good - will know better when I get up in the morning!!
I think my family go glazed eyes now when I start talking about running.
I was pretty relaxed on C25K early weeks not minding whether I did 3 runs in 1 week or let it go over 2 - now I start fretting if it looks like I cannot do 3! Must learn to relax!! Happy running.
Lovely post Richard! I love to look and see how others are doing. I love to see how they progress...how we are all getting on. But I am not in a race with our running family. We are all just sharing our experiences of an activity we love...individually.
I've followed your runs and seen how you have achieved PB's. It's great to see your progress! The 'clever data' shows how hard you work at your runs, but your post has got me thinking. There are other challenges that data can't record, e.g. how hard you're working to get back to it after being unwell, getting out there and having a go on a day when you know it's going to be tough. Strava never tells me how well I've done with my 5k after a day at work on Monday evenings in the dark and cold, but I often find those runs a harder slog than 10k going over hills on Saturday mornings! You are so right that we shouldn't compare our performance with each other. I also need to remember that a run is a run...and I run just for me. ☺
So true - Strava ought to give us the ability to add a score for that - but you are right - on a day when you might only do a 10 minute run there could be a million reasons why and it could be a significant achievement.
I find looking at others achievements inspiring and can if I am not careful start feeling why am I not doing as well! Hence the post - we should not feel that way - be pleased for each other and for ourselves compare only to ourselves - and as you say recognise in ourselves not only the data but the unrecorded info.
Reflection is good sometimes. But it was even better getting out for a run!!
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Can't help comparing myself, what can I do?
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