It's Hard Work

As I was running at the gym the other night, I had a medium hard workout, and it lasted about an hour.  As I was inputting comments into my run diary, I had almost nothing to say.  It was...just a workout.  Nothing exceptional about it.  It was a 6 on perceived exertion, running metrics were all OK, and just average.  As I walked out of the gym, it was a great summer night in NYC.  People were laughing, drinking, eating dinner.  And I was tired, a bit cranky, and had just run 6 miles for what?  I am not sure.  It would be much more fun to laugh and throw back some beers. And I thought... those people aren't doing what I am doing, they aren't in the gym.  I wonder why not?  This isn't fair.

And then it occurred to me: running is hard.  It is work.  It is really something that has a lonnnng payoff.  Workout today, and tomorrow I am not better, fitter or stronger.  Skip the workout and I am not weaker or slower.  To push through the average workouts, the unexceptional days, the times when the other path seems so easy -- that is the hard part.  That's the hard work.  "The difference between goals and accomplishments is dedication and commitment."

I should also add I am dieting, and also training for NY Marathon 2014.  So I am literally mindful of everything I eat and drink.  And I ponder over every workout, both from lose weight perspective and from a marathon training perspective.  That isn't fun.  It is mentally taxing, to keep the focus, the commitment, the dedication, over many months.  I forgot that consistency -- that every week matters, and I can't just let 2 or 3 weeks go.  (I actually let two months "go" earlier this year.  It was a health disaster.  Added 10 pounds, and set back marathon training by months.  It wasn't a neutral, it was a big minus.

I am already looking forward to the marathon day, and its 2 months off.  The diet ends.  The self induced pressure ends.  But the payoff, the long term payoff?  That's the prize.  Even if it takes a lot of hard work.