The Journey Continues
Greetings & welcome back to this edition of the Running On Ayers blog. It’s been quite awhile since I last posted so I’ll catch you up as much as I can. In this article I’ll discuss why I wasn’t at the Oakland Running Festival, the importance of patience & forgiveness of self, accountability and how all of these lessons can be applied to our lives. We’ll close out with my plans moving forward towards this quest for a BQ, which began in April 2016. Life can be very much like a marathon. The secret to it all is appreciating every step.
“The Secret To It All
Is appreciating every step.”
Kyrah A. Ayers
In November 2022, I wrote that my next Boston Marathon qualifying attempt would be at the Oakland Running Festival which took place on March 19, 2023. Since that post, life has taken some turns that forced me to hold on to the handles a little tighter and to keep running on the backburner a little longer than I anticipated. The company I work for went through some major overhauls which brought about a series of changes in my life and schedule. The adjustment period restarted, but I’m slowly falling into the new rhythm.
Me browsing my Strava timeline.
For awhile there, I admit that I was sulking. I try my best to follow through with what I say I’m going to do, but sometimes there are forces beyond our control that influence our timelines. For me, this can temporarily cause frustration, but I’ve learned over the years to process it, learn from it and move on. In pursuit of your goals, I feel it’s important to be kind to yourself. When I coach others towards their goals, an important aspect to the initial interview is how much time the client has to devote to the goal. As we continue on the coaching journey we do regular check ins to see what changes in life have occurred that could potentially alter things. For example, I had one client who was asked to put on a large scale event with a very short time frame. Things like this can alter many aspects of our lives, but rightfully so. Life isn’t linear so the paths towards our goals shouldn’t be either. We are dynamic, which makes the journey that much more enjoyable.
On the flip side, I feel that one of the most important ingredients in achieving goals is accountability. We have to own up to where we fell short and address it in order to continue to move forward. In every marathon training cycle I’ve done, there have been days where I had awful workouts. Maybe my mile splits weren’t near where I expected them to be or I felt sluggish throughout the workout. There are some days when I’m not able to hit the prescribed distances. I’m human, and although I feel that it’s important to be kind to yourself in these moments, it’s equally important to acknowledge what went wrong, work to prevent it from occurring repeatedly and revise the plan to accommodate the alterations. Self assessment is key and I recommend should be worked into the start of every day. On sluggish days, it might be important to review how you slept the night before or what you ate. On days where you missed a workout, it might be important to review how your day is set up and to assess what altered to prevent you from accomplishing the scheduled step. Is it something that can be controlled/prevented with better planning? Sometimes the answer to this will be no, and that’s okay as well. We all are the stewards over our own priorities making us our own most important accountability partner. When in a coach to client relationship, it’s important that the client be transparent and comfortable doing so in order to help the coach to see the entire picture. Over the years, I’ve expressed in a variety of Running On Ayers blog posts how I’ve fallen short. Even some where I had physically fallen on the ground. I share my journey vulnerably as I’d hope my clients will with me.
Marathon training as well as attempting to qualify for the Boston Marathon have both taught me a lot about myself and life itself. The lessons we learn along the journey are the medals we receive long before we even start the race. Every test sharpens your resilience. Each setback is an opportunity to deepen your resolve. I’ve been appreciating the lessons that have come and am excited to use them as the fuel to carry me over the finish line with a smile on my face and probably a tear in my eyes with my hands raised above my head victorious in achieving my goals in life and in marathon running.
My immediate plans moving forward on the BQ quest are pretty simple. I’m going to be exercising patience in allowing the dust to settle and for the rhythm of running to slowly find its way back into my life. I’m currently in the process of making this more feasible and can’t wait to share how with you in the near future.
Things I need to work on would include:
utilizing small moments for strengthening exercises to prepare
diet
water intake
sleep
committing to a minimum of 1-2 runs per week to keep the engine from rusting further
Once again, the journey continues and every step has offered lessons as well as blessings. The paths we take, we shape, while at the same time it’s shaping us into who we’ll be tomorrow. Keep moving forward on your journey. Let it shape you and positively influence as many as you can along the way.
Live your life on Purpose and keep Actively Pursuing Your Goals.
Kyrah A. AyersOwner & Head Coach of Actively Pursuing Goalswww.ActivelyPursuingGoals.com