{"id":2095,"date":"2018-05-22T15:26:50","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T09:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/?p=2095"},"modified":"2018-05-22T15:31:09","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T10:01:09","slug":"much-ado-about-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/2018\/05\/much-ado-about-nothing\/","title":{"rendered":"Much ado about nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is where I am right now\u2026<\/p>\n

No race on the horizon and no training plan of any sort.<\/p>\n

At rock bottom in each of my 3 sports\u2026\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Swimming- I am struggling with my freestyle. It is only drill work until my stroke improves to become a bit efficient and it bears some semblance to swimming.<\/p>\n

Biking \u2013 I am not confident with cleats, not getting faster on the hill climbs and getting an inexplicable neck\/shoulder pain after 90 minutes of biking.<\/p>\n

Running – I haven\u2019t done any sort of speed work in the last one year, so my pace has gone to hell.<\/p>\n

Gym \u2013 I have just started working on it, so am playing with baby dumbbells and plates.<\/p>\n

Not to complain, just laying out the facts.<\/p>\n

Everything seems like an uphill task.<\/p>\n

Each day is \u201cput your head down and work\u201d sort of a day.<\/p>\n

A far cry from the days of marathon training, where each speed workout would end on a high, each tempo run left me finished, and the long run was long and satisfying.<\/p>\n

No sir, now is the time to just get through the mundanity.<\/p>\n

Yes, of course, there are minor breakthroughs, small highs during some workouts, but by and large it is grinding work.<\/p>\n

All projects have a certain trajectory. And this is where I am today. At the trough.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Like when I was writing my book, in September 2014 and I could not find either an editor or a publisher, I was on the verge of giving up.<\/p>\n

Like when training for my marquee race the Rotterdam marathon in 2016, I floundered while I trained for SCMM earlier that year during November- December 2015. I was unable to hit my paces through that long training period and I wondered how would I ever make my Boston qualifying time in Rotterdam. Whether I should just quit now and start afresh the next year.<\/p>\n

Like when training for Boston 2018, running up and down the hills, relentlessly, just took everything out of me and left me so empty, that I just did not see myself making it to the next workout.<\/p>\n

At all those points when I asked myself why was doing this, and I found an answer, as I had a goal. A visible end.<\/p>\n

But today, in this time of darkness, I question myself, why am I doing this and there is no answer.<\/p>\n

Emotions are riding high these days. And not the positive kind.<\/p>\n

Frustration, when I don\u2019t get seemingly simple corrections in my stroke\u2026I mean how hard is it to keep my knees straight while kicking when I swim!<\/p>\n

Struggle, as I see my speed on the bike drop to my running speed while climbing up the Walkeshwar hill!<\/p>\n

Despair, as I see the pace that I finish my long runs at, Sunday after Sunday!<\/p>\n

Boredom, with the repetitiveness of the gym work!<\/p>\n

I am doing what I am doing because I have to. To get better. That\u2019s it. There is no instant gratification, like an Instagram post with 100 likes, but it is work in progress, like writing a book.<\/p>\n

My no-goal training present is like a dark tunnel, a long dark tunnel. I cannot see the light at the end. And I need to keep going. Because I know that it is there. I just need to keep moving ahead.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we need friends to support us. A coach to motivate us.<\/p>\n

Right now, it is time to do the work just to get stronger. Mentally as well as physically. To hang in. Let me give this time my best. That\u2019s all.<\/p>\n

So now I realise, this has been one long post for only one word: Perseverance. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Perseverance (n): continued hard work and dedication<\/p>\n\n\n\n
synonyms:<\/em><\/td>\n\n

persistence,\u00a0tenacity,\u00a0determination,\u00a0resolve,\u00a0resolution,\u00a0resoluteness,\u00a0staying power,\u00a0purposefulness,\u00a0firmness of purpose;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Welcome to the world of Endurance Sports!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is where I am right now\u2026 No race on the horizon and no training plan of any sort. At rock bottom in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-running-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5lWKK-xN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2095"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2113,"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2095\/revisions\/2113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therunningsoul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}