Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Giving It Your All

Like I mentioned in yesterday's "not-so-stellar" recap of BlogFest 2015, although I didn't walk away with a ton of blogging education, there were nuggets here and there that stuck with me.

One such tidbit of truth that resonated with me was from our keynote speaker, Gabby Reece. Yup, the model, professional volleyball player, and mother married to a professional surfer (can you say #TotalPackage?!).

Source

Not only did she kick our butts' in an amazing (and amazingly hard) HIGHX workout, she also dropped some knowledge on us. I wrote down a couple of her quotes that rang true for me (and hopefully they might ring true for you too).

Fitness

-AND-

GivingItYourAll

I think the first quote is pretty straight forward (PS I used Canva, an AWESOME program I learned about while at BlogFest, to create the graphics in this post. If you haven't seen it before, I would totally recommend checking it out. In the words of Linzie "MIND BLOWN".). But, like another one of our speakers said, "Common sense does not mean common practice". And just because we say it or "know" it, doesn't mean we DO it. During one of my races I saw a quote on a shirt that almost made me spit out my water. It was something along the lines of "You can't complain about the results you didn't get from the work you didn't do." BOOM! DROP THE MIC!

With that being said, though, I think the second quote is a little harder for me to put into practice. For me, I worry about giving it my all... I worry that my all won't be enough... I worry that my all will still leave me short of my goals... I worry that my all will be craptastic... I worry that my all will leave me disappointed in myself (and even worse, others will be disappointed in me)... So maybe that is why I often just run "for fun".

And PLEASE hear me on this! I am NOT saying there is anything wrong with running for fun, not going for a time goal, forgetting about a PR (personal record), etc! But in my case, I am often defaulting to that option because I am scared that I won't be able to hit a goal (the first step is admitting I have a problem, right?!).

Don't get me wrong, when I am training, I am pushing, pushing, pushing myself. I want to get faster, stronger, better, but I think when it comes to the actual races, to actually quantifying my training, I pull back. I worry that I won't hit my goals. I psych myself up and tell myself that I don't have what it takes.

Fall or Fly

But, you know what? I will never know if I have what it takes if I continue to sell myself short. Sure, maybe I will fall short, maybe I won't hit my goals, but I know for darned sure that I won't push my limits and conquer my aspirations if I am starting off with a defeated attitude in the first place.


I'm not going to lie, it is SCARY AS HECK! I am freaking out even thinking of the fact that I want to attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon and actually give it my all to see if I have what it takes. I have no idea if I will hit my goal (or whether it will take me 3 months, 10 months, 5 years, or if I will ever reach it), but I know I will be more disappointed in myself if I don't give it 110% than if I do and miss the mark.

So, here goes nothing.

Do you think you give it your all when it comes to your goals?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes. To everything you wrote. Yes.

I wrote a long e-mail to my coach telling him how my numbers were there (as in, if my goal was realistic) but my head wasn't there. I often fail to *believe* I can do things. And really, running is a mental sport. If you're already giving in mentally, the race is over before it even began.

I gotta practice what I preach.

<3 ya girl.

Ashley Lynn said...

Great post! All excellent motivational sayings! I frequent Pinterest for sayings a lot when I need motivation with my running. What's your goal!? #dontleaveushanging

Alyse said...

Ha, I think a lot of people had that mind blown moment over Canva! And Gabby - such an inspiration. I'm still pinching myself that we got to be in the same room as her and workout with her!

Jody T said...

I totally agree with your post. Having a goal is scary, and I don't want to be disappointed, so I just don't go for it. I have a time goal for my fall HM, and I haven't even started training yet, but when I think about it I get nervous and discouraged. It's tough.

Carleeh said...

I know I falter in my pursuit of my goals. I would already be my goal weigh, held a handstand, and have done a pull up if I pushed myself 100%. Truth is I put about 60% in. I get that I need to word hard, but I am enjoying the process. I don't want to force myself to stress and over training. I would have to talk time away from my family, and I don't mind taking a little longer to accomplish my goals. It will happen someday. And when that day comes I will own it knowing I didn't let let it consume me. I still work on my goals, I just do it as it feels right.