Happily Frustrated

Going on my run yesterday wasn’t exactly what I expected. I decided to run 2 miles instead of the forceful 3 I ran last week. While I quite literally got ahead of myself on my last run, I know that this stage of my running is about slowly building back endurance. However, I couldn’t shake the expectations I placed on myself yesterday.

Taking time to do things right, I started with my usual 5 minute warm up. My body is still carrying some residual soreness from my last run. As I began running, I could feel this overwhelming sense of heaviness weighing me down. My legs were aching early on, making me question if I could complete this run without stopping. 

Eventually, I listened to my body and slowed my pace to a walk. But I wasn’t happy about it. In my mind, stopping to walk is the ultimate surrender to a perfect run. Even if my pace is extremely slow, I can at least finish my run saying that I completed it nonstop.

As I began to walk, I could feel the frustration bubble up inside. In that moment, I began to harness the emotion. I transformed it. Being frustrated made me realize how much I wanted to do better.

The more frustrated I was, the more I convinced myself that I’m going to reach my goal.