Picking up from yesterday –
My strategy – which you can (of course) feel free to ridicule and/or disagree with as much as you’d like, though I stand by it – was to basically obliterate* the first half while the heat was under control… and to finally put this disappointment behind me. (Right?!)
*By obliterate, again, I mean by my standards… which amount to a walk in the park for most runners.
(Spoiler alert: I finally did a sub-2:58 half marathon! (More on that later.))
So, how would I accomplish this sub-2:58, you ask? This is going to sound like a little tangent, but stay with me (if you want).
Over the past year, I like to think I’ve generally become a better person. There are two pieces of wisdom I’ve heard that really stuck with me, and I try to incorporate all of the time. Those things are:
1) “When angry, be kind. When sad, be kind. When frustrated or criticized, be kind. Whenever possible, be kind. And it is always possible.” (Cory Booker does various versions of that idea on his twitter. So, that’s the pieced together version that I think covers it.
2) When asked how he stays happy all the time, Drew Carey responded, “constant forgiveness for me and everyone I meet.” And I really try to live by that one, because it’s fantastic advice. I think it’s implied, but one of the most important parts about it to me is to give forgiveness without the other person ever even having to ask for it.
Now, it’s possible I’ve had some minor annoyances in my life the past couple of weeks. I don’t want to get into everything here, because the details are unimportant. But, hypothetically, if I’d been feeling a little forgotten by a close friend of mine, and possibly slightly annoyed that he didn’t wish me luck in the marathon, knowing it was really important to me, I might want to run that out!
In real life, I would reflect about how he’s been so unbelievably amazing to me, remembering all the things about my life, and the only reason I’m so surprised I didn’t hear good wishes is because I’ve been so spoiled by his kindness.
And I’d think about the fact that he is really busy with a big new project of his that had a huge day that coincided with the marathon. So, he was kind of completely buried by that and probably a little dead to the whole world.
But! That’s real life. That’s understanding, happy, content Aurora. And while I think that’s healthy and lovely and I like living that way, kicking-butt-and-taking-names marathoner Aurora is allowed to dwell a little, be angry, run stuff out – do whatever she wants basically.
And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.