Over
the weekend I finished my first ever comfortable five mile run, by
comfortable I mean I could have gone on for some more time, I had no
side stitch and I was not out of breath. I stopped because my time was
up and I had other plans for the day. I was expecting to be happy with
my run instead I was really disappointed, does this happen to any of
you? I feel like I am never satisfied, in my sane mind I know I should
have been happy with my run because I have been really trying to get my
breathing in order and so for somebody
who would feel like a dead person within 30seconds of jogging I know I
have come a long way yet I found myself complaining about how I should
be putting more effort and how by now I should have been much better.
I
feel like I can never be satisfied. After every workout, every run or
every measurement I am usually disappointed in myself. I am constantly
trying to reach 100% and somehow I stop at 80% effort
T
says I am doing pretty good and is always surprised by my
reaction..initially I used to feel it is good to be not satisfied
because the minute you are satisfied you stop wanting to improve and
that's no good but now a days I feel it is important to be satisfied
with yourself, it is important to be happy and to recognise effort you
put in. You can always improve without feeling disappointed in yourself.
This
is something I definitely need to work on, I need to look at how far I
have come while keeping an eye on how far I need to go :)
Do any of you feel this way ever? What do you do?
Keep Reading
I will Keep Writing
Tanvee
I agree that there is a balance between feeling satisfied but still wanting to achieve more and being complacent. You sound like you have a great balance!
ReplyDeleteHi Diane, I am still working on trying to find the right balance :)
DeleteIf you want to feel like you gave it 100 percent, then find a track, and run fast, don't stop till you puke. After that, I think you'll be fine with 80%:)
ReplyDeleteI love your comment, so everytime I think about 100% I think about puking, should be fine with 80 as long as I keep improving :)
DeleteIf u feel u have given 100% then u should feel satisfied but if u feel u didn't give 100% then it is OK to be not satisfied. For r me I give the best I feel at that moment and I am satisfied 100%. Its OK to be critical but if u make it a habit u may lose interest.
ReplyDeleteexactly I am so worried about being so critical...
DeleteSounds to me like congrats are in order. Like you said, Look how far you have come!
ReplyDeletethanks J :)
DeleteHi Tanvee! I think that fitspiration gives a lot of stupid advice sayings. You can't give 100% for very long. And it's not even a good thing because people who do that tend to get injuries--which puts you at 0%. A person has to pace themselves if they want to commit to a long-term plan of fitness. This is why I did NOT want a competitive weightlifting coach and do NOT want to compete. I'm here for long-term, not short-term. I want to do fitness in my 80's and that means that I need to preserve this body not beat it to a pulp. So I think that 80% is a great number. :D
ReplyDeleteI sort of agree with this. Marion knows I like to push myself, and if you read my blog, and I know you do, you'd know that sometimes that puts me on the self from time to time. My problem is that I'm usually tying too hard too often. I think that it's important to give 100% or MORE once in a while, but Marion is right in that for the most part you do want to have something left in the tank most of time if you want to do things in a sustained way.
DeleteFeeling disappointed in that isn't all that great though. I look at most of my strength workouts just as building blocks, no need for disappointment there, when I'm running I find it a bit harder to avoid if I have a slow time, but I try to keep things in context... was it at the end of the work day? super hot? really windy? Lots of factors change things. find a way to be happy with the great workouts you are doing.
I wish my brain could understand this, sometimes I know if I do too much the next day will not be pleasant but I still land up doing more...stupid 100% idea, not that I am looking for short term fitness the problem with me is I need to stop getting disappointed with my workouts and stop pushing myself. I keep being not satisfied so when I finished my first decent 5k I was complaining about the time..when I reduced my time I was disappointed about not making it to longer than 5k..it's a constant want of getting better that keeps me aiming for pushing harder...(it's a cycle) I am working on trying to happy with my improvement and my 80% effort :)
DeleteThanks Marion and Chris for your advise :)
I definitely know how you feel! That being said, way to go on getting through 5 miles comfortably!!! I wish I could complete just one mile comfortably! ;)
ReplyDeleteyou will get there, if I could I think anybody can :)
DeleteI can completely relate to what you're saying. I have confidence and satisfaction issues all the time, even though I know I'm doing alright. I haven't come up with an answer to my dilemma yet, but I guess the key is to keep on going. In any case, you can't deny the facts -- 5 miles comfortably is awesome :) Think back to when you first started running and celebrate how far you've come!
ReplyDelete