Sunday, July 12, 2009

Because I Want It

"Choosing a goal and sticking to it changes everything." --Scott Reed

Saturday July 11 marked three months until Chicago '09, where I will make what I believe will be my successful attempt to qualify for Boston. In fact, I not only plan to make it in the required time of 3:50:59 or less, but I plan to train, prepare and pace it so as to have a significant buffer in case anything goes wrong (like it did last time and I missed it by three minutes).


I love the journey as much as achieving the goal. It gives my life meaning. But that does mean I have to make sacrifices and tough out times when it would be so much easier to wobble on the training. I get up hours before my comfort zone to run, shun extra portions and junk food that tempt me, go to bed early and skip late-at-night social activities, avoid other exhausting activities. And of course, many more little sacrifices along the way too numerous to mention. It's costly. Period.

So many well-meaning people have discussed with me ways to scrape by my goal, shown me miracle training plans running just 3 or 4 days per week, or otherwise ridiculed my singular obsession with this goal or roll their eyes at how much I'm putting into this.

But the goal is two-fold. I wouldn't miss a step of the hard work that I am doing and am going to take. If that means toughing out challenging circumstances, running through the agony of wanting to quit; so be it. I relish the journey; I want the goal. And that's really my best answer to people who look at me like I'm crazy for what I do. "Because, you see, I WANT IT."

"In this life we get only those things for which we hunt, for which we strive, and for which we are willing to sacrifice." --George Matthew Adams

6 comments:

cath said...

GREAT post! Training with that attitude, you don't need 'luck'...you're doing the work!! You inspire me with my running goal!

runner-grrl said...

Cath,
Hey, thanks for the visit! great to hear from you. I peeked at your blog, what a fun read! Can't wait to read what your goals are going to be.
You're right, one of my famous sayings is "I don't believe in luck." Mostly, that's for the exact reasons you stated. I believe in preparation. Luck has nothing to do with it ;-) You'll never hear me say "good luck" to someone. It's always, "best wishes" or something like that. --Alex

Rick said...

Nice post Alex! Many don't understand the drive necessary to do your best. Your determination is remarkable and will pay off big time in Chicago! The destination would not be nearly as sweet if the journey were easy!

runner-grrl said...

Rick, You've nailed it exactly! What victory if the cost is nothing? I know you understand that same drive, you have it also :-) --Alex

lorraine said...

You continue to be an inspiration!

runner-grrl said...

Lorraine, Hey! So good to hear from you. Send me an update on your progress! --Alex