When “It” Hurts, Keep Running

Sometimes “It” hurts.

“It” can be anything. Life, work, relationships, school, writing, walking, talking, and even running. It doesn’t matter how long or how hard you’ve trained. Or how much you’ve prepared yourself for “It.” Sometimes, “It” just hurts.

I’ve been training since November for these races. I ran 8.2 miles on Saturday. Today, I tried go out and run 4, and could only run 2. My feet and my knees were killing me. Like, to the point where all I could focus on was the pain each time a foot hit the pavement. I kept trying to run through it, but it just hurt worse.

So, much to my dismay, I turned around, and I ran back home. I even had to walk part of the way. And I felt this deep sense of personal shame. This is what I said to myself:

“WTF, Molly? You ran 8 miles on Saturday and you can’t even do this? How are you, in 4 days, going to run TEN MILES?”

Then the other part of me said:

“Hey, sh*t happens, and tomorrow I’m going to wake up early. I hate waking up early, but I’m going to wake up early, I’m going to pop a couple of Aleve, and run. And then rest. And then go to work with a smile on my face. And work and do bits all day. Then, on Saturday, I’m going to get up at 5:30 in the morning, I’m going to put on my shoes, and I’m going to run 10 miles. My knees, my feet, my confidence, they’ll be fine.”

Because sometimes when “It” hurts [whatever “it” is] you just have to push through “it” and keep “running.”  Because there is no better feeling in the world than crossing the finish line when you know how hard you’ve worked to get there.

Am I right?

Word.