How To Enjoy A 50K — Step 18: Never Pay Attention to the Time
The first time I jogged the 3.9 mile route through the woods, I brought my phone with me to measure the distance. My GPS tracker was also kind enough to let me know that it took 1 hr and 9 minutes to complete.
Actually what it said was that I was in motion for 52 minutes and standing still for 17 minutes. Except that I never stopped moving.
I like to think the miscalculation was because I spent so much time hiking up hills and therefore from the perspective of a satellite it must have seemed like I wasn’t moving very much. Right? Because I was going vertically up (untrackable) instead of horizontally east or west or north or south (so trackable). That makes sense, right? Right??
I know. It just means I was moving so slowly the tracker barely perceived any motion on my part.
Whatever.
Lest we forget I am in post-Covid shape and I was half dragging / half being dragged by a very curious puppy who, at 7 months, is far from the running companion I dream her to become. Her training falls on me. I take full responsibility. However, at this point the running is so hard I’m not yet capable of guiding and treating her as much as she needs me to. We’ll get there in time.
Time that I will not be tracking.
I’d like to reiterate that the title of this blog is How To Enjoy A 50K.
Not How to Run a 50K.
Not How to Finish a 50K at a Personal Best (although the first time you do anything is always your Personal Best until you try it again).
And definitely not How to Qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
How to Enjoy.
Well, something that I do not enjoy is tracking my time and comparing past performances to current ones. Perhaps that’s because, at 43, I can assume all my fastest times came a long, long time ago. Maybe it’s too much paperwork. Maybe it’s just not what gets me going.
Whatever the reason, time tracking fails to motivate me. Instead it makes me feel like I’m never trying hard enough, and I hope you know that it’s basically impossible to enjoy something you believe yourself to be failing miserably at.
So I jog and I jog and I have no idea how long it takes me because it doesn’t matter. I’m striving for the runner’s high, the flow, and the joy. I couldn’t care less about the pace I take to get to the finish line. The goal here is to feel good in my body and in my brain, not to look good on paper or on a race results website.
Sending love 💛 and light 💡 from a slow burn up a long hill.
How to Enjoy a 50K 