RunFasterSarah (my running adventures)

Practicing crossing the finish line.

I was recently reminded to “enjoy the journey”. It was meant in the context of my running a lot in an attempt to qualify for the Boston marathon. As in, my life revolves around running to the greatest extent possible while still:

1. Working
2. Going to school and completing my client case studies
3. Giving speeches at toastmasters
4. Preparing good, healthy food
5. Remembering to feed, walk and play with the girls
6. Maintaining some sort of sanity

Isn’t it pointless to try to keep all these balls in the air if I’m not enjoying it?

I’ve spent the past two weeks feeling constantly worn down and tired all the time. Purely from lack of sleep. I tend to give up sleep in order to do just a few more things. But being tired makes life and training feel unmanageable, and certainly not enjoyable. I could argue that the journey will all be worth while, enjoyable or not, when I cross the finish line with a qualifying time of sub 3 hours and 35 minutes… But would it really? (And would I even make it there?)… And… What if?

What if, just what if, I don’t qualify?

While I’ve been keeping a positive and optimistic outlook, maintaining that I will qualify, I figure I still have to be prepared for the “what-if’s”. Okay, so if I don’t enjoy the journey and I don’t run a Boston Qualifier, well let’s see… I might fall into a deep depression and never run again (you never know, it could happen). In all honesty though, I don’t see a happy ending.

Trying on race day outfit!

But if I enjoy the journey, living fully in the moment of what each day of training brings me, and I don’t run a BQ – well then, I’ll likely gather up my tired legs and let them know when our next attempt will be. Because when the journey is fun and training is enjoyable, it all makes sense.

As I run (literally) towards my goal of qualifying for the Boston marathon, I remind myself to enjoy this journey. That partially means ensuring I get at least a solid 8 hours of sleep each night. I’ve heard it said that the journey is the destination. If that’s the case, then really, race day isn’t the destination… It’s but another milestone within the journey. Certainly, if the journey is the destination, the importance of enjoying the journey cannot be understated.