Guest Blogger: Embrace the Suck

Emily Jones will be a Guest Blogger during our 8 Week Go Commando Race Training Program that prepares individuals to run a 5K, 10K or Half-Marathon. The program will consist of 2x a week of the Nationally Recognized Boot Camp Challenge workouts in addition to group runs on Saturday mornings.  
 
Emily will be participating in the 10K on October 18th and sharing her workout and training experience here.

Week 6

This week, the Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) staff, who host the Go Commando race, were organizing the race medals in the conference room next to my office.  I caught a glimpse of the sleek design as they sorted them into age group categories.  I joked that if they wanted to go ahead and put my name on my age group top finisher medal and call it a day, I was fine with that.  They jokingly replied that it was possible because the 10k has been a less popular choice than the 5k, which is sold out, and the half marathon.  Insert panic attack!  The 5k is Sold Out???  Thank you, CVB, for crushing my dreams of dropping down to the 5k if I prefer a flat 3.1 jog instead of a completely hilly 6.2 miles on October 18.  Love you, too!

As the news that the 5k was sold out and also that the 10k currently had lots of space left (translated to possibly being the LAST person to finish) was sinking in, the Boot Camp running coach sent me an article on tips for having a successful run.  Many of the suggestions were on how to properly fuel and were things that I’ve heard before and follow.  One point struck a chord though - “Embrace the suck”.  Quit fighting the pain and quit stopping when it hurts.  Ouch.  They’ve got my number.  I (always?) stop when it hurts.  I (usually?) take the easier option, like the 5k versus the 10k.  Hello self-realization.  I’m supposed to embrace the pain and even learn to enjoy it?  Until reading this, I was certain that running was only this painful for me and that all other runners had advanced past the suck and their runs were now pain free and delightful and the asphalt felt like fluffy clouds on their feet.  Misery loves company and I had found company.  New on the To Do list: Embrace the Suck.

Tuesday Boot Camp class was my first class since the Women’s Half Marathon the weekend before.  There were four boot campers who had completed the half and we celebrated our accomplishment with partner exercises, relays, sand bells, and games.  Thursday was a series of jogging and sprinting, which I’ve learned to embrace as the only way to improve my pace and potentially not be the very last person to complete the Go Commando 10k.  Even if that happens however, I have still completed 6.2 miles and lapped everyone on the couch.  And the feeling of crossing the finish line, no matter how fast or slow, does not suck.  Thank you, Boot Camp Challenge, for another rewarding week full of self-discovery.  Can’t wait for our next therapy/workout sessions!