QOTD: What did you find to be the most difficult part of running when you first started? What do you find to be the most difficult now?
Then: Trusting that the training would work on race day. Even though I ran 14 miles 2 weeks before my first half, I still didn't believe I could do it. I had no concept about why it would work, so I blindly trusted the training without understanding the mechanics of how the distance build up occurred.
Now: Finding the internal motivation to get out there for a Saturday run after a long work week with lots of running when I'd rather sleep in and/or be lazy.
Probably the mental hurdle and build up for longer distances. I never thought when I started I would be running a marathon
I still remember waiting in line to meet Chip and Dale the day after my first half. Sore and still quite exhausted, I remember being in awe of some ladies in front of me with Donald, Mickey, Goofy, and Coast to Coast medals. I could not even imagine such a thing to be possible. And yet now, Dopey awaits me next month. I'm still working on the mental hurdle for the marathon. I've made peace with that hurdle by telling myself that I can either live in fear of the hurdle or look back on the many difficult things I've done in life and must do every year to push through come race day.
When I first started, the biggest hurdle was fear. I was afraid of failing, afraid of falling, afraid I had decided to run a 10K and would not complete it and those around me would see me for the failure I felt to be
Fear consumed me so badly leading into my first half that it nearly ruined my race and ended my racing career less than half a mile into the race.
In the beginning motivation was definitely an issue, especially skipping one day could derail the whole week.
It becomes so easy to say I don't feel like it today, but I'll get out there tomorrow, but before long, it's been weeks since I ran.
It was actually having no way to gauge if I was running well. No benchmark for how fast or slow I should be running. It just evolved over time by running with others and running my first races.
I struggled with this too. While I didn't train "wrong" for many years, I also understood so little about training that I caused myself more stress and worry than I needed to. For instance, I don't like to skip runs when I don't feel good. But now I've learned that most minor colds, illnesses, etc. will not destroy the weeks and months of fitness I've built up to that point.
But in any case, don't beat yourself up about it. And don't give up.
I think this is invaluable for a runner. It's important to try and figure out why something didn't go the way you wanted it to, but equally important to move on from that disappointment.