This week Tall Mom is hosting Take it and Run Thursday for the Runner’s Lounge. She asks…
Scarecrow asked for a Brain, Tin Man for a Heart, and Lion for Courage. If you could meet the Wizard of Running and ask for anything what would it be? When your wish was granted how would your travels down the Yellow Brick Road of running be different?
I have had a really hard time coming up with an answer to this question. Some fairly obvious things came to mind: speed, patience, motivation. All of those would be lovely and would certainly make my trip down the “Yellow Brick Road” of running go more smoothly. But what I really think I need is to be more decisive and to learn to be more at peace with my decisions.
I’m having a really hard time figuring out where to go from “here” and not just with running. Do I dedicate more time to running and run another marathon or do I let running take a bit of a backseat and focus on finding a new career path? Do I “specialize” in the 10K to 10 mile distance and work on speed or do I start building my endurance for longer distances again?
I’m an “accidental” stay at home mom. I never planned to quit my job and shelve my career. Circumstances made becoming a stay at home mom the best decision at the time. While some things have changed, this is still the best situation for our family for now. But, not a day goes by where I don’t wonder if I’d be a better mom if I was still doing a job I enjoyed.
I’m also an “accidental” marathoner. I randomly blurted out to a friend one day that I was thinking about doing a marathon. He thought that was so cool and wanted to know which one. I told him the Marine Corps Marathon and then felt like I HAD to do it because I’d said I was. I don’t regret doing it, but there was a whole lot of “what was I thinking” during the training.
So, yeah, I”d like to decide what direction I want to go in with my running and then find a training plan and get on with it. Maybe that’d free up some brain cells for more important questions, like “what do I want to be when I grow up”. LOL
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Some other random things going on…
- I picked up the Wizard of Oz for Jones to read a few weeks ago at the library. He was shocked when I told him there was a movie too. What kind of slacker parent am I?
- I spent today switching out warm weather and cold weather clothes in my dresser and closet. In the process, I threw out an entire garbage bag of stuff and put together a box for donating. I’m 5’3″ and fairly small, why exactly did I have a bunch of men’s XL shirts? I gave a couple to my (6′ tall) husband and donated the rest.
- My Senseo coffee maker broke yesterday. I don’t really NEED a new one, but I was really sad when I had to make a small pot of coffee in the regular pot.
- I ran an awesome 4 mile run on the treadmill this evening. So awesome that I can’t even remember how long it took. That’s 18 miles in three days and all the miles felt great. Dollars to donuts my next run will suck because I just posted that.
- I need to end this stream of consciousness post and head to bed.
"Accidental" usually works out the way it's supposed to – I'm a firm believer in that adage "things work out for a reason".Have a good night 🙂
I'm with Joy. The things you have done have made you who you are, so might as well embrace them. And way to kick out 18 miles!
It all kind of fell in my lap too. I'm not natural at any of it – it's all just hard work and determination.Now get that coffee maker before you kill somebody!
I'm a little bit opposite – I'll plan like crazy, but then lack the determination to grit it out when it starts to hurt. Running-wise, that is.So I think I would choose self-discipline. To have what it takes to keep pushing the pace even when it starts to feel uncomfortable, because the discomfort will be temporary. I need to see past the immediate "this-feels-like-crap" moment to the "I-can-totally-do-this-because-I-trained-like-crazy" moment.
I got rid of soooo many clothes recently that were huge on me. a men's xl on a 5'3 person…WOWZERS!!Thanks for playing along and good luck with your decisiveness…
I think a lot of us have the "what are we doing?" thoughts when training for a marathon. Good luck figuring out your what next!
You are inspiring me to go through my closet this weekend!It can be tough to be at a crossroads, but at the same time it's cool to have the opportunity to be able to think about it and make choices. Even the lack of a decision is a choice in itself and can lead to other opportunities. It'll all work out somehow. 🙂
Your accidental decisions seem to be working out well for you so far!I need to switch out the clothes too. I've been having a really hard time finding warm clothes to wear.
I agree with the others: Most of us deviate from a planned point somewhere along the way, and that usually works out just fine. Sometimes even better.The Wizard of Oz movie is pretty different from the novel, but if he likes it, that first one is just the beginning of the series.
I'm with everyone else, things happen for a reason. Great job on getting 18 miles in!
I echo all previous comments, and would add that you don't necessarily have to choose between focusing on your career and your running. You can simply use your runs to think through all the difficult stuff that comes with carving a new career path. It was on an especially lovely fall run soon after moving to DC last year that I decided to pursue freelance writing, and I still rely on long runs to help me work out mental kinks of all sorts. Good luck on all fronts!
Even if you accidentally stumbled into a few things, sounds like you're succeeding. Keep up the great work!