Only the lonely…

I’m an extremely social person and solitude has never really been my thing. I’ve been preparing to run a local 5k with a few coworkers. This week has been an interesting week, because of schedules and project demands we’ve all had to run solo this week – and we’ve struggled during those runs. What I’ve learned about myself is that sometimes your greatest accomplishment isn’t determined by speed, distance, or WOD performance. For me this week it was that solo four mile run. I’m not a natural runner – and likely don’t do it very well compared to real runners. Running is a cardio necessity for me, but I really do enjoy a recreational 5k. So when I set out for a solo four miles, I realized that mentally I wasn’t ready. I also didn’t take the time to stretch enough which was painfully apparent at 3.5 miles. I get energy from people around me, so you take my energy source away, and I’m left with just myself, my thoughts and my pains. But perhaps those are the efforts that should be celebrated more – the tough runs, the WODs you don’t want to do, the squat-challenge you would like to bail on – but you don’t. The accomplishments during solitude when no one is looking, with nobody to cheer you on but yourself – I believe those may be the biggest accomplishments.