Beginner's Luck

Easily the thing that pisses me off that most. (Warning: Rant ahead!) I'm happy that people who have just begun running can find so much success so quickly. But for someone who has been working their booty off for over a year now, it just plain sucks.

Example #1: "Jenny"
Ran her first half marathon in August on the most minimal of training, and managed to break 2 hours. By 3 minutes. It took yours truly 4 years and 11 half marathons to break 2 hours. By 40 seconds.

Example #2: "Steve"
Steve and I used to date. He had never run more than the length of a soccer field for an extended period of time. Enter yours truly, and he begins running. We break up (best day ever!), and I carry on with my running career. Finish my 20 mile run on Sunday, exhausted but (for the most part) right on pace. I spot him in the beer garden (if you know him at all, this is not a stretch by any means), wearing the free t-shirt we got at the end of the run, not even looking tired. Apparently he's running the marathon. I hope he bonks. Pick your own sport, dammit!

Example #3: "Sarah"
A sorority sister of mine. She's lost a ton of weight when she started running. I heard from another friend of ours that she was having trouble with training. As in, not doing it. Taking WEEKS off at a time. Find out through Facebook yesterday that in one of her random runs, she finished the 20 miler and is now "ready" for the marathon.

None of the above examples should make me mad. Nor should they make me feel bad. But they do. I can't explain it. It's great to work so hard and achieve the results you set out to do in the first place. But it's harder to feel good about your accomplishment when you see people not put in the kind of work that you did, and reap an even bigger reward. It makes me... well... bitter, I guess. And I know that I have no reason to be. It's pretty wrong, actually. One of the things I love about running the most is that anyone can do it, and it's totally inclusive. But aside from being book-smart, nothing comes easy to me. I've had to work hard for every medal on my shelf.

With that being said, I am proud of what I've accomplished. I've had a GREAT running year, and so far have achieved a few goals that I set out to do at the beginning of the year. I've come a long way since last year's failure at Chicago, and I need to focus on that come race day. The other people don't even matter. All that matters on October 11th is that I did the very best that I could, and left absolutely everything out on the roads of Chicago. (And if I beat everyone else? Well then, that's just gravy...)

UNTIL THEN... I need to stay away from the Internet. I need to watch excessive amounts of TV and beat Guitar Hero. I need to finish my remaining training runs and continue to work hard. I need to rest my feet and stretch my muscles. I need to stop pumping my tummy full of junk. I need to fix my ipod. And, most importantly... I need to not let Taper Madness take control of my head! No more negative thoughts!