Okay With It

Janae over at Hungry Runner Girl recently posted about perfectionism.

It's something I've been thinking a lot about lately. On February 26th, I'll be running the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon.

And you know what? Nearly everything has strayed from my plans.

-I barely trained for my 10k (but I finished with flying colors).

-I was really sick from mid-December to mid-January and I jumped into my half-marathon training plan with some two-mile runs and a six-mile long run the first week.

Oops.

-I got sick AGAIN and it looks like my longest run before the race will be 8 miles.

Only 8 miles.

(Did I ever think I would say "only" 8 miles? 8 miles was an impossible distance once upon a time.)

I realized, training or not, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Life gets in the way of plans sometimes. I've learned to accept this lately, but sometimes it's hard to take a scary plunge when I've been looking forward to this for so long.

So, I'm leaving for the trip just about a week from now.

I'm okay with whatever happens.

I will finish, even if I'm walking across that finish line.

And I'm okay with it.

I know this race will be tons of fun and a great photo opportunity. After, I'm looking forward to cross-training (conquering my fear of spinning once and for all?!) and running shorter, speedier distances. It'll be nice to run for the sake of running again.

Would you rather train with a purpose (a race, or for charity, or an event) or just for your own benefit?

I love planning, so I like training with a purpose. I think I'll appreciate cross-training a lot more now, though, especially because in college I can really take advantage of a great gym.

What makes you decide to venture out when you have other responsibilities? Friends? Family? A midnight run...or a midnight run to get ice cream?

Tonight I decided, heck, it's open mic night and my boyfriend is playing a set. I'm going to go. I'm glad I did-I had a great time and it was nice to hang out with friends. I've worked hard lately and I deserved it.