Instead of Fearing Change, Be Excited About Progress
As of today, my faster 200 meter in training is 36 seconds.
My fastest 300 is 55 seconds.
My fastest 400 is 76 seconds.
I want to run a 5 minute mile.
I need to run eight 200s in 37.5 seconds.
I need to run four 400s in 75 seconds.
Until today, I didn’t think my legs could move that fast. But for 200 meters, I did it. I moved my body that fast. My legs carried me at that speed.
It’s possible.
Change is hard. Facing the unknown.
I’ve moved from starting slow and conservative and finishing fast to sprinting from the starting line and trying to hold on. I’ve left the comfort of high mileage being the “work” and meat of training to short repeats with tons of rest being the hard part. When I told my coach I wanted to train for the mile, I knew eventually I’d end up at the track. I’d end up doing things that felt like sprinting. I wanted something to push me outside my comfort zone. I needed to do something completely different in order to force myself out of my comfort zone.
My workouts the past few weeks have not felt like miler workouts. I didn’t feel very fast. I felt like I was just gassing myself on paces I probably could hold for longer. I didn’t, and I’m still learning, know how to access a different gear. I sometimes still feel like I have one pace and it won’t get any better. My mindset felt fixed. My body felt like it just was the way it was. I felt stupid for wanting to do this work when I my pace jumps aren’t the seconds I’m used to in longer distances.
In miler training, I have to fight for each second, on every interval, every single time. This is the change I didn’t know I wanted. This is the building block I need. To keep putting in the work for microseconds.
Those microseconds are progress. Believing I can run fast is progress. Every workout is completely different than anything I’ve ever done. The changes are daunting and hard, but each one is progress. I’m not going to get faster or complete them every week, but just showing up and trying hard is progress.
Instead of fearing the unknown or worrying about it, I’ll be excited for now, because at this stage, anything is progress.
