Aggrevation: Supportive vs Pushy

I get a little aggravated with people when they refuse to look at things realistically and instead push people to make decisions that may not be right for them. I understand they are trying to be supportive and motivating but I think people forget to look at the whole picture sometimes.

There is currently a discussion going on about the Tink in which a woman was venting that registration for next year's race opens about 2 weeks before her first half marathon and that she really hoped it would be after so she could do a half first to make sure she wanted to do another before signing up. Every one's reactions were automatically, "Just do it!" My reaction was, just wait. The race won't be full after just two weeks so do the first one and then decide. Well, she has decided to sign up anyway without knowing and that bothers me. I feel like she was pressured or guilted into going ahead and signing up on the first day of registration instead of following her legitimate plan. I think sometimes people forget that half marathons aren't for everyone. I am on the verge of being in that group. Honestly, if they were a mile or two longer, I would never do another one because 13 miles is more than enough. I have no desire to ever try a full. I would be bored out of my mind and it just isn't something that appeals to me but others push people into doing them all the time.There are people in the half groups that take that plunge every day but I will never be one of them. Yes, some of these iconic races are tempting and I would love to have the awesome anniversary medal for the Disney World full next year but then I remember that it requires me to do over 26 miles and I laugh and think, "Maybe I'll just buy one on Ebay."(kidding of course, I would never want I medal I didn't earn) In the case of a full, for me, the work outweighs the reward and it simply isn't worth it. I would be miserable.

People keep saying, "You have to keep challenging yourself." But there is a difference between challenge and torture. I challenge myself by signing up for more half marathons and pushing to do better at each. I challenge myself by finding new fun races to keep me moving or workout programs that kick my ass but I enjoy. If you don't find any joy at all in what you are using to challenge yourself, in essence you are torturing or punishing yourself and that isn't healthy. I have a great friend that has taken up running and as much as I would love to do a distance race with him, he is not in the least bit interested. At first that baffled me because he is not the type to back down from a challenge but then I realized after talking with him that he knows it is something he simply wouldn't enjoy. Believe me, if my first race had been like the Austin 10/20, I would have never done another race over 5K. It sucked and I hated it. I enjoyed the music and I loved the bling but the experience on the course was not a good one. Fortunately,  I knew that it wasn't the norm for me. It was because of crappy weather mostly so I check that race off the list and move on.

I feel like everyone should try ONE half before they sign up for their next. Yes, I signed up for two half marathons before ever completing my first but I had attempted one and made it  nearly 2/3 of the way before I was picked up. I knew what it was like and I knew how much farther I had to go, but I also knew that I enjoyed it. And as I get stronger and train more, I will enjoy it more. I have told people that they should try a half if they want and that I will give them info to help them train but I have never pushed them to do it. Because I know if someone had done that to me, it would have backfired.

These are all decisions we each have to make for ourselves. Being supportive is awesome but people have to be careful of that fine line between supportive and pushy. Guilt is not the right motivator when it comes to these kinds of things.


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Update on yesterday's post:
The stomach bug seemed to subside yesterday afternoon but I will still be taking the rest of the week off form Si6 because when I was making something to eat last night, the pot slipped and I poured boiling water all over the back of my left hand. I treated it but couldn't get the pain to subside so I spent 6 hours at the ER last night to have it looked at. Fortunately, due to the nature of my injury I was triaged immediately and they gave me a burn dressing that helped immensely. By the time I saw the Dr 5 hours later it was much better and she just prescribed me something for the pain and an ointment to put on the wound. I am much better now but I will hold off on the intense workout until my hand is better. The obstacle course 5K tomorrow is probably going to be bad enough for it but I am determined to do the race.