For my first Take it and Run Thursday, it seems appropriate that this week's theme is "Running Through Transitions", as I've consistently struggled with keeping on track during transitions of many kinds, and also as I'm devising my training/running plan for the coming winter months to ensure I don't let myself get derailed by life's little surprises.
There was a time, not too long ago, when I glibly listed my weaknesses as "wildberry skittles, younger men, and quitting." Hence the title of this blog. It's a strange affliction to have, and probably even stranger to realize and label like that. Hello, my name is Tess, and I am a recovering quitaholic.
Not only was it impossible for me to stick to anything, I enjoyed giving up on it. Every difficulty, every transition in life, was an excuse to drop something. Whether it be a college class (I dropped out twice, switched schools and switched back, shuffled my schedule so often each semester that I'd attended about 20 different classes in the first two weeks of school), a job (I've had some doozies), boyfriends (more doozies), apartments, even leaving a boring party without telling anyone gave me some sort of strange rush. I even took up smoking (GROSS) for a year just to prove I could quit cold turkey.
Running - exercise in general, was always a victim of my quitaholism. Any time I was going through any kind of challenge in life, I always quit exercise. And with all the transferring, and moving, and breaking up I was apparently doing during the college years, I had an endless stream of excuses to stop my almost-blossoming running habit, which at the time was just a couple pitiful weekly jogs around Beaver Lake and a dreamy notion of how awesome it might be to run a WHOLE 5K.
Fast forward to well, now, and I'm four days off running my first half marathon, and idea that six years ago (heck, five days ago) seemed not only impossible but laughable. Even mythical, like unicorns and sea creatures. But I did it, after not even a year of running steady. And I somehow started running for real on the cusp of what ended up being a staggering stream of transitions, and kept on running through all of them.
I left a job and started a new one, moved apartments (and was homeless for a month), went through the worst breakup ever, had my next apartment explode and was homeless again for another month, lost a couple close friends, awkwardly regained some, and too many other strange and twisting changes to mention. Somehow, for the first time, I managed to run through them all, instead of using them as excuses not to run. And now, instead of wanting to quit when the going gets tough, I want to run.
Go figure. When the going gets tough, the tough get running.
I've started looking at life not as a highway (zing, Tom Cochrane!) where every challenge is an opportunity to take the nearest exit and get some McDonalds, but as a long steeplechase where challenging transitions are more like water hazards or hurdles. Without the momentum I get from running, I wouldn't be able to scale the obstacles in my path.
This post was written as a part of
Take it and Run Thursday, courtesy of Runners' Lounge.
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I love that you started smoking just to prove that you could quit. That is funny. I remember how annoyed my husband was when I stopped, with no obvious effort or symptoms. He struggled with it for years.
Being good at quitting isn't all bad. I eventually quit the husband!
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