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There is value in being a beginner
a lesson I learned from the Entisol
Listen to an audio version of this essay read by the author here.
Yesterday, I was running along a stretch of beautiful California coastline. The trail weaves along a bluff that is the youngest in a series of coastal terraces that formed through the combined processes of uplift and erosion. I am lucky to call these landscapes my training grounds.
Despite the ocean views, the first two miles of my run didn’t feel great. My calves were sore. I was generally tired from completing a high mileage week. My mind was all over the place, worrying about what was to come. This was partly my brain worrying about the challenge of the scheduled run for that day (I was set to run hill intervals at faster paces towards the end of the run). But mostly, it was my attitude. My tired, and unintentionally negative attitude.
So, as I have done so many times in the past, I started giving myself a mental pep talk.
I asked myself how I was feeling and why I might be feeling this way. I reminded myself of how much progress I had made with my training over the last 4 months. Then, I reminded myself that even though I have been running more consistently over the last few years, and am training for a long-distance adventure… I am still a beginner, a novice, a relatively…
