“You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.”

4.52 K @ 7'38/k

I came across the title of this entry the other day. I'm not really a motivational quote kind of person but this one stuck out to me. When I jog I know that I can push myself harder and don't. I have this thing where I'm afraid I'm gonna run out of gas and I'd rather do a 5 K in 40 minutes than 3 in 20. When I go I often think "at least I'm doing something" When I talk to others they say well at least you're out there, I don't do anything. When is just doing it not enough anymore?

I'm a recreational runner. I know I'm never gonna be a competitive runner. I do it because I enjoy it. Yes, I like it when my pace times decrease. Yes, I like it when I see the kilometres rack up. But, should I be pushing myself more? I think it's a personal choice. After I had run in the 5 K race in May there were several compounding issues that made me just absolutely unable to run. My body would NOT do it. At that point I'd say that an "at least I'm doing it" mentality would have been acceptable.

I'm just stuck right now trying to decide if I should get out of this self congratulatory behaviour when I could do more, but I am getting out there...and that IS good. I'm hoping that I'll just become more results oriented and driven naturally once I start picking up the pace more consistently.