FEATURES
"We All Know That Place, Right?"
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Thursday, 26 May 2016 00:10
By Erin Klegstad (sweetsweatlife.com)
Last week, Timehop reminded me what was happening in my life at this time last year: a lot of running. One-hundred and fifty-six miles of running in fact.
Gee, thanks. Just what I wanted to see when my running mileage is currently zero.
Immediately after reading that post, my mind did that automatic thing that everyone’s mind does: it went to that dark and unhealthy place of comparison.
We all know that place, right? The one that tells us we aren’t doing enough as so-and-so, training hard enough, biking enough, running enough, eyebrows perfect enough. The one that tells us we aren’t good enough. It’s not a fun place to be, inside your head like that, second guessing every little decision. Maybe I if I only did this. Or, maybe if I only did that. Maybe if I had better eyebrow genes! Damn you, mom and dad! (I’m kidding, mom and dad!)
When you stay in your head like that, comparing your journey to someone else’s journey – or even sometimes to your own journey from another point in time – you know what? Your journey suddenly loses its luster and sucks. Because her journey looks so much better! She always makes it look effortless and perfect… pushes so many watts… runs so many miles a week… look at her Strava data! ...
Well, I’m here to tell you – and to tell myself – to stop that right now. STOP THAT COMPARISON BULLSHIT. Because it’s not fair to you and all the hard work you are doing right now.
One year ago, I was a month out from IMCdA in the midst of peak training. Today, Kona is about 150 days out – and, I’m at a completely different spot in my training volume. It’s an unfair comparison to think I should be at the run volume I was at last May.
Sure, the work’s not perfect all the time or exactly how you want it to be (what I wouldn’t give to be running right now!). But, (I’m) you’re doing the work. Keep doing the work. Keep working hard and giving it your best every single day. It’s the only way you’re gonna improve.
And, like me, keep this on repeat in your head:
Comparison is the thief of joy. -Theodore Roosevelt
