You can learn a lot about life from just one run. Every run is different, and every lesson therein is different as well. My run this morning was, well, difficult. It was hard, but really harder than it needed to be because I didn’t properly prepare. In just eight miles on the pavement this morning, I was forced to accept that in life you always get out what you put in. For me this morning, I ran like crap and felt like crap because I treated my body like crap during the 24-hours prior. Too much time in the sun, not enough water, not enough food. For my pre-run breakfast I only had protein, and no carbs…an obvious equation for an energy disaster.
Had I worked smarter today to prepare for my workout, I would not have had to work so hard in my run.
It took me four miles of running in the heat to put the pieces together as to why I was running at a slower pace than normal but working twice as hard. Panting and exhausted, I took walking breaks as if I had just finished a hard race. I was angry and frustrated with myself, and to top it off I didn’t properly prepare to have water during my run, I was dying of thirst four miles away from my car.
You always get out what you put into anything. Prepare poorly for something, like I did for my eight mile run today, and you will perform poorly. Invest in smart decisions, in small steps of discipline, and in sleep and proper nutrition, and the compound effects of your efforts will compound upon themselves over and over in your favor. Whatever goal you are currently pursuing in life, work smarter, not harder. Yes, hard work does pay off, but smart, hard work will always trump hard work, and moreover, it’s a lot more enjoyable.