June and Summer is here! That means longer and warmer days, and hotter runs. These are the days we covet early morning and night runs, and even running in thunderstorms and the rain. It’s not hard to see why some of us are still reeling at the pace of this year and how quickly Summer has come upon us, and it hardly seems fair that Spring was here for all of a few weeks and now we’re summer running already. Hopefully that means we’ve gotten off the ground with some, or most, of our 2018 goals and have reason to smile.
Right around now, or mid-year, is always a good time to take a step back to reassess how far along we’ve come and where we’re headed. It may be necessary to even adjust some priorities and expectations. Be OK with that. Let it be enough that you were able to get a few things accomplished, or off the ground, and that there are some months left to work with. We are often our worst critics and are first to beat ourselves up when things don’t work out; that can sometimes be a good thing in that it can cause us to own up to our actions and seek to better them. On the other hand, too much of that and the unwillingness to cut ourselves some slack and apply the necessary pat on the back when it’s due, and we could find ourselves a bit jaded and unmotivated to take on the rest of the year.
For my part, I am one to focus on the positives and run with it; some of which include surviving Boston, which became a last-minute goal upon realizing that a PR was going to be near impossible. I did get in a new course – a destination marathon of sorts – out in Providence, RI and picked up a BQ. Additionally, I’m doing better with managing my time and finances around my running, which has allowed me to focus on other non-running related things that needed my attention. Still, there have been a couple of areas that have lost me or not gotten as much attention. The next six months will present ample opportunity to give it another go and place some focus there and on any other outstanding or unfinished business for this year. Some of that focus will be trained on continuing the run or a half-marathon PR, doing my charity run, and getting back on the logging-my-miles wagon. Yep, I’m shaking my heading with a smile here, I’ve fallen off too many times already but I won’t give up. I’ll get it right eventually I know.
One of the reasons it’s important to check in with our goals is that we can realign our them with our reality, if that reality has changed, and view ourselves and the foreseeable future through positive and realistic lens; this sets us up to achieve our year-end goals and leaves us ready to run this year out. So there you have it. Six months later, we’re looking OK and forward to accomplishing what’s left on that 2018 list. More importantly, we’re still smiling!
runningwithfaith 