“Let it go.” – This has been a bit of an on going theme in the past few days.
It’s something so easily said but so hard to actually execute. In Yoga we do what’s called a ‘clearing breath’, it’s the ultimate physical epitome of ‘letting go’ and it really does work. However, mentally its always a bit tougher to let something go, especially if you’re someone like me and hold yourself in high regard.
Today I had to ‘let it go’. Why? Well right this moment I am supposed to be standing on the start line of the Welwyn Half Marathon. Ready to race and pumped for a half marathon course I have run twice before. It’s a great course, flat and fast. However, last night I woke up at 3am with a pain that was excruciating and even meant I couldn’t fall back to sleep.
Now, I am someone who hates making excuses. I live by the mantra that “it’s all mental” and I truly believe that. You can do anything, the only thing that ever holds anyone back is their mindset. My pain threshold is pretty good and I generally prefer to get on with things, rarely do I let pain become between myself and running. Very rarely in fact! I am also someone who is very against taking lab-made pill-form painkillers and anti-inflammatories. If you eat well and look after yourself, you’ll find you don’t need to be taking them.
Last night, around 3am, however, I had to break both these premises and I took ibuprofen and let the pain get the better of me. Now, this isn’t the sole reason I have decided not to run today. The lead up to this race has been my usual informal training and I know that I’m not really in a PB shape right now. My goal for half-marathon these days is the sub-80 minute and although I think its very within my reach, I’d want to approach a race with a proper lead up in order to achieve it. Lucky for me I have St. Neots Half in November and that course is where I got my current PB.
I’m not beating myself up too much about not going to Welwyn as the other reasons for not going today include how far away it is. It’s a 50 minute/1 hour drive and although that isn’t much in the grand scheme (I’m sure all the Australians are laughing) it’s long enough for me to feel like running on a bad toe isn’t really worth it. Had the race been more local then I think I’d have been more inclined to just do it anyway and “run for fun” instead of chasing PB’s.
I did eventually fall back to sleep this morning but when I woke up I made the decision to go swimming instead and after breakfast I’m off to Yoga. I know, Yoga won over running today?! It really is a new passion of mine. So I get my fix of athletic activity. The other reason I don’t think it’s worth getting caught up on is that by letting my toe recover today, it means I’m able to run for the rest of the week (potentially pain free) and get my much needed fix before I go to work. This week is an important one too as it’s moving week and by the end of it Laura and I will be living in our new flat!
So there we have it, just “let it go, there’s no loss now” (listen to the song for the reference). Good luck to any runners racing today and those that bailed out for alternate work outs, it’s all gravy.
See you on the next post.
BG
benedict. 