On most Tuesdays, I do a long run, preferably on a trail. But as you may remember, we had so much rain last week that a lot of areas are still flooded, and I was pretty sure large parts of the trail would be under water. Instead I took today’s run to a nearby park, where there are options to run on pavement or smaller trails.
I started the run, and sure enough, as soon as I got on a trail, it looked like this:
I tried running, but it was really swamp-y and hopeless, so I went back out to the road. That’s okay! There’s a grassy area on the side of the road that’s runnable, and I ran along happily for a while until- OOF. I tripped and fell over something- what did I trip over???
It was a small metal bracket that looked like it was supposed to hold a sign- someone had taken the sign down but left the bracket, which was practically invisible, at shin height. just waiting for someone to trip on it. I ripped it out of the ground and threw it aside angrily. I wonder what sign it held?
A minute later, I had my answer, as I passed another bracket holding… a political sign. So let’s get this straight. The political advertising was offensive, expensive, didn’t convince a single person to change their vote, AND NOW IT TRIED TO KILL ME. Luckily, it wasn’t a bad fall. No injuries or blood, just a couple scraped up elbows, and of course, falling isn’t fun. But no harm done.
I continued on, and ran to a little neighborhood behind the park. This is a really isolated spot that you would never find unless you lived there, or were exploring the area on foot, as I was. The houses are on dirt roads…
… and people have horses! Hi guys!
Look at this little guy!
I was about nine miles into the run at this point. My right hip was stiff, and the heat was bothering me. It was 80 degrees and sunny… why couldn’t it be cooler? Or overcast? Grumble, grumble… then I remembered something Harvey Lewis said on this episode of Sally McRae’s podcast- look for the pleasurable aspects of whatever it is you’re doing and focus on those.
Well, let’s see. I’m definitely lucky to be out here running. 80 degrees is better than 90, or 100. I’m in a safe area that’s objectively beautiful (see top photo).
I also thought about something Joe Corcione talks about on his podcast. The words you say out loud really matter. Whatever you speak out loud, you’ll start to believe. He likes to say “This is awesome!” during a race when he’s not feeling great.
Guess what- it really works. I’ve done this in difficult runs, and I did it today. “This is awesome. This is awesome. This is AWESOME!” (To be clear- I don’t do this if other people are around, ha ha). Before long, your brain says, “you know what- this actually IS awesome.”
I love long runs- it’s always an adventure, with lots of highs and lows. I finished 14 miles feeling good (or, awesome).
If you run, do you have any mantras or things you tell yourself when you don’t feel good? Do you have any mantras for life in general?
