Embracing the Highs and Lows

People often tell me that I worry too much. I agree that I frequently have feelings of worry, anxiety and guilt.

This is probably one of the reasons I like running so much. There really isn’t much to worry about when running. Or at least that is the reason I first started running. To let go of all that worry and anxiety, and to have (some) time in my day where I didn’t have to be anxious.

Then, last September, I got a stress fracture in my foot which left me “runless” for over 8 weeks. Which actually wasn’t a terrible thing, as they say, “distance makes the heart grow fonder”.  And the break helped me re-claim my desire to run.   

However, as September is right around the corner, I can’t help but worry about another stress fracture. I still have a Sub-4 goal for my upcoming marathon, but more importantly, I have a no stress fracture goal for the next 3 months (In November I can get injured when I go in hibernation during the winter. Just kidding. I seriously don’t want to get injured. Ever again).

But I am not injured at this moment. And there is no reason to be worried about an injury. This is a high(Duh) – I need to embrace it.

Which brings me to my point (I think I have one?): Embracing the Highs and Lows. Whether it be in my long runs (like my 18 miler this weekend) or in life, I need to take a moment to enjoy the highs and accept the lows (Read #8).

This could not have been more true than in my 18 mile run this weekend. During those 18 miles, there were some mental highs and there were some mental lows, but instead of trying to change my mental lows into positive thoughts, I decided to accept them. And with my mental highs (where normally I would think negative thoughts like “Oh you won’t feeling this good for very long!”), I decided to enjoy them.

Literal highs and lows of running my 18 miler.

This might seem obvious to some of you. But as someone who, even when things are going well in my life, worries about hypothetical bad things happening, this is a BIG step for me. Crazy, right?

Yes, I know I need some more positive thinking in my life. I’m working on it. For realz. 

Please note that I am definitely not always like this. I would say that 75% of the time I am more positive than negative. But I thought it was something worth blogging about. Maybe I will look back and laugh at my negative thoughts?

On SUPER HUGE POSITIVE NOTE, I will see you all on the flip side as I head out to Seattle/Portland to run Hood to Coast with Nuun tonight!! #boomshakalaka