Good Morning and Happy Astronomical, Autumnal Equinox...!
Well... Guess who is here in the Corner today... yes it is me, who else?
The door is open, despite the aftermath of the dreadful storms of last night, the cushions are waiting and there are warm drinks, this morning. Please leave your shoes under the porch, grab a snack, ( some great home made protein balls added, this morning), pick up your cushion and sit a while.
I have been thinking again...finding time to just sit and think is not easy for me right now, but I did, eventually, find some!
I have been struggling a tad lately, as some of you know, and one of the things I am having to try really hard to get a grip of is myself and my mindset. I want to get back into my happy running feelings. So...scrolling back through my running log and posts, I found three old friends... from three years ago.
Yes, Annieapple , you have guessed it... the three As!
The letters are so appropriate right now...and not just for me. Reading your posts, I am of course, as always really impressed by what you are doing, but, I am picking up too, elements of areas of worry and concern and some very real struggles going on. So I am going to re-jig and re-use that post now.
Our lives are a huge adventure...full of the highs and lows that are ours, and ours alone .Exciting, happy, sad and frightening, but mostly, uncertain and unknown. At times too, there are many., many issues, that can have a really negative impact on us and our running and the way we handle them.
To some it can be illness,medical treatments, family worries, the current news... it can, too, be simpler than that..poor self esteem, a feeling of not being good enough, a fear of failure. It can be for newbies, or returners, or repeaters, as simple as, lack of motivation...
What to do? Well, three years ago, I came up with this: three words.
Acknowledge
Accept
Adapt
Just that.
We find ourselves in a situation... for me, it is my husband's physical and mental health issues; but for the purpose of the post, the situation here, is running. Our running.
The situation is as it is, we are doing what we are doing. Overthinking, and over-worrying is not going to change that at all.
How then do we handle it ? Well, those three words may help to make it simple.
Look at the photograph. It is similar to one I used three years ago.... what follows now is taken from that post.
“I acknowledge that it is wet and cold ( rainy and foggy too) .
I accept that I need to run.
I adapt to the fact, by wearing my wet weather gear, and I run.
Now.
So, applying the three words here;
If you are following C25K , whether at Week 1, Week 5 or Week 9, it is simple; you just follow the plan.
You acknowledge the plan that is C25K.
You accept that each run will move you onto the next run and to Graduation.
You adapt, to wind and weather and to any obstacle that may occur, but always confident in the knowledge that you will move on, at some point.
This is running in the NOW.
The 'Now' is the thing .
You take each run as it comes.
It's all about being focused; on each run, acknowledging the run, accepting what is happening, ( good or bad), and adapting.
I don't want to use words like mindfulness, or in the moment, but I suppose it is a bit like that.
It's about each run and the NOW of that run.
Each run may have similarity in the now, but in some the, now, will be different.”
*****
Okay. If you have followed that, three years ago or now, you are getting the idea... I know that I am in a situation which is permanent; ever changing, ever evolving, yes, but it is always going to be part of my life. If I am going to survive this, I have to Acknowledge, accept and adapt. ( the adaptation will have to change, as does the situation).
Some runs will be like that.
There may be pain or a twinge, so, acknowledge,( listen to your body)
We land awkwardly, the ground is lumpy, accept.
Ease back, take it gently and stretch well, post run, adapt.
The more difficult time to do this, will be when or if you become distracted.
Try to just focus on you, your body, and your mind too, on your run...be aware of you, running in the now.
Let thoughts come, and they will come, thoughts about speed, distance, style or pace, it's perfectly natural, but then, let them go, or label them and put them in your memory jar and then try to re-focus again on you and your run.
So, the message here is the same now, as it was then, and it applies to us all, not just our new runners, positivity not negativity, trying not to over-think or over-worry, trusting in the plan and believing in yourself.
Your turn now... what are your thoughts, what is the hardest thing, that you are having, or have had to come to terms with?
What strategies have you got, for handling the problems?
Maybe, take a situation that you have been in, or are in now, with your running; out of steam, heavy legs, difficulty breathing, then, apply the three As rule to it... maybe share that with us here.
I and we, will be really interested to see who pops in and what your experiences and strategies are.
See you soon
Oldfloss x
