Some of these things have to do with athletics and "motivation." I am self aware enough to know that that the things that make me craziest are those that play on my insecurities and guilt. Let me provide a few examples:
I have belonged to a number of running and triathlon training groups over the years. When I started in each group it was fine that I was all about doing 5ks and 10ks and maybe the odd half marathon. And I was always told that if I only wanted to do sprint tris, that was cool. Yet in nearly every case it was assumed that eventually I would want to be a "real" runner or triathlete and do marathons or Ironman, etc. I have done a marathon. I got injured training for my second one, and decided that both the time required to come back from injury and the sheer time it took to train for a marathon at my pace made it not impossible, but unreasonable, to do another.
And don't get me started on Ironman. I have never wanted to do an Ironman...and I don't need to do one to be a triathlete. I love the fun and challenge of a relay, a super sprint or a sprint...and the training for them is reasonable. I swim, bike and run...I am a triathlete.
So I hold onto this to help me deal with the peer pressure:
The other, tougher example is illustrated by this meme, posted on several of my athletic friends' posts over the last months
This, if you will pardon me for saying so, is horse hockey. Or at the least very simplistic drivel. It is along the same lines as "you can do anything you put your mind to." It suggests that somehow if things, very real and sometimes difficult things, get in the way...then you do not want it enough. Or you aren't digging deep enough, or you don't care enough. This plays strongly into my sense of guilt, of not being good enough or trying hard enough. And then I have to remember that this may motivate the people posting it, even though I find it does the opposite for me.
I have to remind myself that by rights I probably should not be physically able to do what I do as well as I do. I was born with a hip problem and a turned in foot. Fortunately my parents had these corrected in a time when that did not always happen, so although they are not perfect, they are perfect enough. I also have spinal stenosis to a degree that once upon a time an orthopedist told me I should not expect to walk half a mile without pain. I have since done over a hundred 5Ks and numerous other races, including my one and only marathon.
But the other thing is that I have more than one priority in my life...and sometimes one of them blows up or needs more attention and attending to that is a REASON to reassess my goals and set more reasonable ones. It is not an excuse. And sometimes those other priorities like work and a sometimes complicated family situation cause me to dig deep, suck it up and use all the energy I possess just to get through them.
And sometimes when I reassess, my goals change for a reason (not an excuse). I skipped the Disney 10K this weekend, because after the 5k with my wife, my daughter in law and my granddaughter (which was hot and sticky and tiring), I could see that by choosing to do the 10K as well, I would be short- changing my granddaughters and myself. I could meet my goal and miss my family time. I think I made the right choice.
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