Discouragement, RUN Your OWN RACE.

Monday: Long RUN. 16 miles.
This was longer than I was actually scheduled. If we maintained our pace and ran it smart we wouldn't have had any issues.
ISSUE NUMBER 1. Lacey invited her running partner to join us for 12 of our 16 miles. THIS WAS NOT AN ISSUE, I love running with new people. And Lacey speaks very highly of her other running partner. I was excited. Her running partner is a great runner.
So what was the issue? She was trying to pull us to her Half Marathon pace. About 25 seconds faster. This was a slow pace for her, she was training at a much faster pace than we were.
This might not have been an issue, HOWEVER; this leads us to..
ISSUE NUMBER 2: ELEVATION. Over 500 ft of elevation, MAX El. 1129.
You put the 2 of them together and you have a tough run.

SO TOUGH that Lacey got discouraged. The coach in me always comes out when I see a discouraged runner. I quickly came to her trying to encourage her, calm her down. She was beating herself up.

Lacey, in frustration threw her water bottle. She only weighs 100lbs but thought it might make her feel lighter. I think it only made her frustrations lighter.

Hebrews 12:1

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,"

DISCOURAGEMENT: Discouragement is birthed many ways. For us runners here is 2 ways.

1. Looking behind you
2. Looking in front of you.  

LOOKING BEHIND YOU:

Whether it is age or it is injury, looking BEHIND you at your greatest accomplishments in your running career can really cause you to stumble.  If we camp out here too long we can find ourselves in a pit. Wishing, wondering, and wanting to be what we once were.

LOOKING IN FRONT OF YOU: This is when we look at that person running like a rock star. You want to be running with them, or running like them. You wonder why they are not out of breath, or look tired. You wonder what you are doing wrong, or what you should be doing. It the dreaded comparison.

RUN YOUR OWN RACE: Our running careers will have many different seasons. Some seasons we will have no control over, like injures and some seasons we will be able to train like a champ.

If my running career was a novel, my chapters would have injuries, victories, discouragements, and disappointments.

But as I get older, I am discovering that I need to RUN MY OWN RACE. Being HUMBLE in every mile because GOD has given each one to me.

He Giveth and HE Taketh.

It has been more about being a positive influence to other runners. Being an encouragement to others. I want to run for LIFE. This means I am going to have many chapters, good, bad and indifferent. But I need to run MY RACE. And Run it Honoring God Every Step.

RUNDOWN:

Monday: 16 Miles

Monday Afternoon: 1 mile with my XC kids

Tuesday Afternoon: 1 mile with my XC kids

Wednesday: 4 miles easy at Sorenson Park, 2 miles intervals 4:1 with XC kids.

Running in a tank top at Sorenson today.

(Follow UP: after finishing our long run, I showed Lacey our overall pace, It was spot on! Exactly where it was supposed to be. It just didn't feel like it because she wasn't focusing on herself anymore. She got distracted. She ran great,

especially considering the elevation and she was recovering from the flu)

Stay Focused. And Remember, Running isn't a destination, it is a journey, Enjoy the process.