A lot of life is measured by numbers. Everything from how many minutes a day of play your tot needs, how many days of vacation you have, square footage of your home, how quickly your car goes from 0 to 60, how much is in the 401K, to what size jeans you wear.
Numbers, numbers everywhere.
(Numbers on the track)! Michelle and I hit the track to do a portion of our Saturday long run. I don't love track running, but I have to admit it felt really good on my body. I may be a convert.
I've been blogging/reading blogs for a long time and a when it comes to fashion and running blogs in particular numbers are a big deal. It's how you convey the progress of your training plans and if you reached your goals or not (something readers feel invested in if they have been following for a while). It's also how you give people a reference point for knowing what size they should order if they like the fashion you are posting links to.
Numbers can be an important tool, and provide helpful information. Except when they don't.
I'm pretty confident and comfortable with who I am, and what sort of runner I am. But, I'm not going to lie it gets hard reading blog posts from (non professional) runners talking about how they had a bad race, and had to run so slow that they almost DNF'd (did not finish) because what was the point. 9 times out of 10 they are running my pace, or a pace that is fast for me. Most of the time I skim right over that part and don't care, but after years and years of reading blogs it gets old.
After a while it's hard not to think "man I wish I ran like so and so"..."I wish I was this or that like so and so"..."I wish I could wear that size"...you get the idea.
The Pilates group I'm part of has a self care theme every month and this month it's "Be Kind to Yourself". Strive for a state of grace, not perfection...and for sure don't strive for another persons idea of perfection, or in this case numbers.
While I'm not arrogant enough to think anyone reads my blog or posts to try and be like me, or strive for the "numbers" I post, more and more I've been struggling with contributing to the numbers game on social media. While I can't be held responsible for others personal struggles/issues, I also don't want to contribute to them.
I can't change the numbers driven world, but I can change how numbers driven my part of the world is. To that end I will no longer be posting here/ FB/IG, my running stats. The numbers don't matter, they just don't. I may mention the distance here or there, but specifics about pace, finish times etc. will go unmentioned.
Instead I am going to try and share photos from runs (like the track photo above from Satruday's, wet, cold, windy long run), the highlights, and not highlights of a run, but the numbers of the run will be left out. I'm not ashamed of my numbers at all, and if anyone wants to know email/message me and I'll share.
I just don't want to be caught up in measuring my life or worth in numbers. And, I don't want to contribute to others doing so either.
Trail run Sunday with my munchkin.
It's all about how much fun I have along the run, not how long it took me to finish. :)
Total side note, Sky is the wrong person to run with when the training plan calls for a slow, easy run. We'd be running along and all of a sudden she yells "run faster" and takes off. Then 10 second later, "run slower", then "walk" over and over and over. Intervals are not my idea of a slow easy run!
If you need an interval coach she takes payment in princess dresses and pixie dust.
P.S. This is not criticism or judgment towards those that do share such info on blogs/social media. I totally get the why behind it, and sometimes numbers are the only way to share the reference points...I get it! Keep doing your thing, and I'll keep doing mine, and we can all be happy together! :)
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