I recently set out to complete a 30 Day Running Challenge. Overall, I would say that this challenge did not go particularly well for me and I will be upfront and confess that:
- I did not fulfill the full 30 days of this challenge
- I did not stop this challenge early because of injury or illness
- I stopped this challenge because I remembered how much I dislike running
- Any motivation I had to get fit was strongly outweighed by my general disinterest in running
This is what I learned about myself through this challenge:
- I am NOT a Runner– By Day 2 of this challenge, I was quickly reminded that I just don’t find running enjoyable. It isn’t even just the physical discomfort. I don’t like the activity. I wish I did. I would love to make running a social experience that I can share with runner friends. I would love to feel that whoosh as I breeze past stationary objects with an impressive speed. But I am not a runner. This challenge made me face that reckoning head on and I am OK with that.
- I Don’t Want to be a Runner– This is to no disrespect to my fellow runners out there. In fact, after having feebly attempting this challenge, I have even more respect for the runners of the world. But for me, this is a weird physical activity that I can’t figure out. By about Day 10, I realized that I genuinely didn’t want to run. I wasn’t in pain. I wasn’t pushing myself too hard. I just didn’t want to run.
- Saying that I am Going to Run, Won’t Turn Me into a Runner– I had set aside a modest plan where every day I would run 20 -25 minutes. Having a plan and good intentions wasn’t enough to make me stay the course.
Challenge Takeaways
- Be Front Facing with Goals– I recognize that I need to be considerate about my true motivations before taking on a challenge and building a realistic plan to accomplish that. This challenge was to “Run 30 Days” but I had not examined why I wanted to do it or what I wanted the outcomes to be in the end. In fact, as I tried to complete this challenge I tried to talk myself into different reasons to keep going- you will lose weight, you want to be a runner, to prove to yourself you can do it…
- Be Patient– I lost my motivation quickly because I felt like I wasn’t making any gains. Physical challenges take time and patience is needed to be able to stick to the end goal.
Overall Enjoyment in Challenge: 2/10
Success in Completing Challenge: D-
Likelihood in Continuing Challenge: Highly Unlikely!
