Today's run was really tough. It probably felt the hardest one we'd done this week. I got up at 7 and met Julian, Carson, Jose, and Mikey for our run. We did the chuckwalla trail. After about 20 minutes in everyone was starting to get a little wiped out. Most of the run was uphill so that might have been part of it. Still, the run was really fun. We saw a lot of great views of icons and found a cool cave called scouts cave. After that we flipped cause we ran out of trail so we had to extend a little bit at the end of the run to make up for it. On the way back we were at least a little more consistent in pace, and we got our pickups in which was good. On the third pickup we were running past some dogs towards the top of a rocky slope and Julian slipped and fell down the slope. We didn't realize we'd lost him till Carson looked back. Luckily it wasn't too bad of a slope so we ended up meeting up with him at the end of the run and he was good. At the end we extended our time on to the paved trail to finish our minutes. It was a super hard run, but well worth it. It gave me a chance to work on my form while trail running as well as work on running hills after a long week. After the run we also went to orange peel it was nice getting to hangout with the guys for a bit especially before I head out next week. Although I'm thinking we will luckily leave after the long run Monday. Also, I'm pretty bummed I won't be running with the team the next few weeks but I'm going to try and keep pushing myself and maybe keep an eye out for some other runners to keep pace. Overall this week was fantastic. I'm pretty sure this is the longest I've ever gone minute wise in one week, and I met all my goals which was great.
I read another chapter from my book and it talked about 7 things that bring success.
They go as follows:
1) setting a goal
2) knowing what it takes to obtain that goal
3) persistence
4) passion
5) A good character
6) enjoying the process
7) confidence in your ability to achieve that goal
I thought about my own running experience as I reflected on each of these things. I thought about my goal to grow to a point where I'm able to run at a varsity level. I also thought about how running with the higher level runners during workouts especially the speed workouts would help me reach that goal. As for persistence, enjoying the process, and being passionate, I've found that just having fun while your out spending time with your team is one of he best ways for all of these three things to come together. They also seem to fuel each other in different ways. I then thought about having a good character. The book talked about a large part of this dealing with you holding yourself accountable and being self aware. This helps you keep your goals in perspective and recognize what you're doing well and what you could work on. I think this would definitely be a good one to keep focused on this season so I'm able to perform my best. The last one I thought about was confidence. This is the one I often struggle with the most because I can sometimes be a little self skeptical. Although it's good to know ones limits, being skeptical of your ability can be a hindrance when trying to improve because it can put limits on your abilities even before you try to achieve your goal. This can cause a huge problem mentally when it comes to the harder workouts and races. Lately, I feel like I've done a lot better at this by just being willing to try something that I normally would find myself thinking is out of reach for me rather than not letting myself try it in the first place. This is definitely something I'd like to keep focusing on throughout the season.
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