What Defines Running Success?

December 16, 2013

Running seems like such a simple thing. Lace up shoes. Go out front door. Put one foot in front of the other. Return home after 3 to 22 miles. Eat something. Recover. Repeat.

But running is far from simple. That’s because it’s so much more than just forward physical movement. Once you start running long enough, it becomes part of your human emotions. It presents itself as joy, fear, triumph, disappointment, strength, sadness and every feeling in between. As runners, it’s easy to find ourselves defining our running success by our last week of training or our most recent race … especially in December as we look back over the year and ask the question: Was I successful?

Most of the time, I hear runners define their success by whether they had a PR (personal record or best time to date). I will freely admit that when I look back at 2013, many of the top running moments that stand out were my PRs in the 5K, 10K and half IRONMAN distance. When we have our best race, we’re overjoyed. When we don’t, we’re often disappointed. But is a PR what really defines our success?

I respectfully say, absolutely NOT!

Time is not the only thing that defines running success / runladylike.com

Of course we always want to strive to be better. We naturally want to see constant improvements. But that isn’t the only factor to running success.

Running success is:

  • Finishing a race – any race – when you feel like quitting. When you feel like all you want to do is walk and all your mojo has been sucked out of you. When you set aside your A goal, and your B goal and maybe even your C goal but decide to keep going (not when injured of course). Finishing any race is a victory. So many of you have shared your disappointment with me this year from races that didn’t go as you expected. Welcome to the wonderful world of running. Race day often throws us curve balls no matter how well prepared we are. You followed through with what you started. The hardest races are the greatest victories. If you finished, you were successful. If you chose to keep going when you could have quit, you were successful.
  • Learning something from a bad race. Two athletes – one a first time marathon runner and the other a first-time half IRONMAN finisher – recently shared their stories with me about their fall races. Race day didn’t go as they’d hoped. One of them didn’t eat the right things during the race. The other didn’t pace herself like she’d planned and tried some new strategies on race day she hadn’t done during training. They were disappointed in their races. They knew the time on the clock didn’t reflect what they were really capable of. But, did they learn something from those races? Yes. That’s the only way we become better athletes. By our own experiences and mistakes. You were successful if you learned something from a bad race that will make you better during your next one.
  • Being consistent and disciplined with your training. No matter what happens on race day, if you were consistent with your training and disciplined in doing your workouts and not making excuses, you were successful. When you train hard and stick with your plan without trying to cut corners or be lazy, you are successful. As Olympic runner Kara Goucher has said, “Acknowledge all of your small victories. They will eventually add up to something great.”
  • Believing in yourself. I cannot begin to tell you how much confidence and a strong mental state can bring to your success. 2013 has been my year to start believing in myself and what I’m capable of. If you were able to believe in your abilities, push back self-doubt and self-imposed boundaries and have a positive mental outlook about yourself, you were successful.
  • Trying your best. That’s all any of us can do. All we have to be is the best we are capable of being, not the best that anyone else is capable of. If you ran with heart and you gave it your all, you were successful.
  • Doing something you’ve never done before. If you ran your first 5K or your first marathon, you were successful. Accomplishing something you’ve never done before, regardless of how fast you did it, is a huge win!
  • Having fun. Whether you had a PR in every race distance this year or struggled to run anywhere near your best times, if you had fun, you were successful. The moment running becomes a chore or not enjoyable, the time on the clock doesn’t matter. Having fun and finding joy in the miles is always the goal.

I recently asked you to share the running or fitness accomplishment you were most proud of during 2013. I LOVED reading all your answers. (You can see them all in the comments section here.) Here were a few of my favorites that are about much more than just the time on the clock.

  • “My biggest accomplishment in 2013 is that after months of time off I finally got back out there and started over again from the beginning.” ~Amber
  • “My biggest accomplishment is staying so calm about being sidelined from two marathons that I planned on running three weeks apart. I realized through those injuries that running is a LIFE LONG sport and two races out are much better than ALL future races being off limits. In the past it would have tore me apart, this year it built me up.” ~Cori
  • “My biggest running accomplishment this year was running my third half marathon – and my second since being diagnosed with MS.” ~Dee
  • “I am most proud of running my very first half marathon at Silverstone race track in 2:21:59. Not even a year earlier I couldn’t run for a minute, let alone 13.1 miles!” ~Gemma
  • “It was the hardest thing I have done, but I quit a marathon at mile 22.5 due to severe cramping. I was able to run by the following week. I am proud that I listened to the needs of my body.” ~Danielle
  • “I’m most proud of turning a really bad marathon experience (Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll in June) into fuel for the first to train smart for the Chicago Marathon, which resulted in a 9-minute PR and the sub-4:00 finish I’d been after!” ~Devon

Monday’s are typically reserved for sharing my weekly training recaps with you. Since I changed things up a little this week, I still wanted to report back on last week’s training. My key runs were: 1) a 4-mile run in Washington, DC in the snow at 8:25/mile pace while traveling for a work trip, 2) a treadmill speed session of 1,000 meters, 2,000 meters, 1,000 meters, 1,000 meters with a 400-meter recovery between each – the 1,000s were at 6:44/mile pace and the 2,000 was at 7:03 pace and 3) a painful 12-mile run on rolling hills at an average 8:40/mile pace. I didn’t get any of my planned cross training in this week. I have one month to go before my January half marathon and I’m turning things up. Next Monday I’ll be back with my regular training recap.

Running in Washington DC
A view from my run last Tuesday in Washington DC

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How else would you define running success?  

Comments

Hailey @ Striding Strong

For me, success is when I am proud of my own races/training without comparing my times to others when its my own journey I should be concerned with in the first place. I fall into that trap easily so anytime I don’t I feel like that me being successful 🙂 I loved this post. Very well done! Thank you!

Janelle @ Run With No Regrets

This is such helpful advice. I had a pretty difficult year which kept me sidelined…but having the right attitude and persepective has been key to me feeling ready to get back on the horse in 2014!

Momshomerun

My biggest accomplisment is that I kept on running. Through the good times, and the bad times. All year long I did the school run running, and I’m proud I stayed a runner.

Patty @ Reach Your Peak

I totally agree with all of these! In 2011, I was miserable during the NYC Marathon but never once thought of quitting. I had to walk most of miles 18-finish but I finished. Despite a time I was not proud of, I finished! I came back and ran it in 2013 and had a much better race and am so proud that my mom and I ran and finished it together!

rUnladylike

I have totally been there Patty! That is how my 2011 Chicago Marathon went. But I truly believe those are the races to be even more proud of than the days where we PR and feel excellent because they require us to find a 6th gear and to push ourselves mentally beyond what is normally possible. It is almost a miracle to finish those races. Great job for finishing in 2011 and having a great race this year!

Brian

Great post!

Finishing a race – any race – when you feel like quitting.

Is my favorite.

Shannon @ Mon Amour

I think the biggest change I saw in myself this year was that I started measuring success by the number of lessons learned. I still have goal times and want to set PRs but if I have a terrible race and can use it to achieve my goals next time I’m usually okay with it. Not an easy thing to learn but once you do it’s incredibly rewarding and freeing

rUnladylike

I LOVE that Shannon. It sounds like you have an amazing perspective! Good luck with all your running in 2014!

Kelsey @ Fueling Strong

Great post. I 100% agree with finishing a race you feel like quitting. I ran my first marathon this year and I got super dehydrated at mile 23 and puked my brains out. I wanted to badly to through in the towel, but I remembered how far I’d come. Even though I ran the end of the race weak and delirious from dehydration, I crossed that finish line.

At first I was mad that I didn’t meet my time goal, but then I remembered that I had ever reason to quit and I didn’t.

rUnladylike

Wow! Amazing Kelsey! Congrats on finishing. That is a huge victory. I’m sorry you felt so rough toward the end! I know you will do great with everything you learned in your next race! Happy running!

Kristen L @ DYL

Jesica, I love this post. I 100% agree with you that while PRs are wonderful, they don’t completely measure success. Participation in endurance sports end up being such great learning experiences for future events and life too. Staying mentally strong is always something I see as a success!

meghan @ little girl in the big world

I think being disciplined in training is definitely so important and is very big in the answer to the title question. I also think pushing through tough races and finishing instead of giving up is up on the list as well. PRs are great, but we won’t always have PRs and it doesn’t mean we didn’t do something right. Thanks for sharing other people’s successes as well. It’s nice to read how a variety of people view success.

Ali K. @ Hit the Ground Running

I love this. It’s so true, and I think when we really believe all these things, it’s when we become true runners.

Angela @ Happy Fit Mama

2013 wasn’t the stellar year I had hoped for. I’m heading into 2014 with goals more oriented towards trying new distances, staying injury free and believing in myself. I’m my own worst enemy so that’s a good place to start!

Lacy @ Running Limit-less

I absolutely love this post! It couldn’t have come at a better time for me either. I have a very difficult time getting past numbers and goals that I want to accomplish and just having fun sometimes. I feel like I did really well this year overall because every race I ran I set a PR for which wasn’t hard to do since I haven’t really run many races in my life and this year started the trend for me. I also ran my first Marathon which was really amazing and definitely many lessons were learned. I have to say that I was disappointed in myself at certain points but after a few words from some great friends and this amazing post (and some kind words from Jesica) I realize that just completing my first marathon was accomplishing enough. I will work on time and speed next year but for now I am learning to be happy with what I do. It is what it is and to be able to learn from each run is what really matters. I can be my worst critic and am definitely most competitive with myself but there comes a point where you have to let that go and just be happy to run injury free and do something I absolutely LOVE!

rUnladylike

Lacy, I am SO proud of you for all you have accomplished this year. Everything you did in running was a success! I can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store for you. xo

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