I'm in my second week of tapering, and as most long-distance runners know, tapering is really when your mind plays tricks on you and you start to doubt your training and if you did enough, if you should run more while tapering, upset that you're gaining weight while tapering, freaking out about getting sick, getting anxious about the race.....
Add to that my stupid tendency to compare myself to others, and almost always ending up feeling inadequate. I recently saw that someone I know completed her first marathon, with an end time that is out of my reach - actually, a time that I would dream about! I was upset about this for a while, frustrated that I hadn't tried to train for it, feeling "less" because she had done "more," etc.....
But the graphic below reminded me (as I've been trying to remind myself) that I can't compare myself to others, when considering anything in life, but right now, especially running. I didn't decide to run this race to beat a certain time, or to prove myself to others. I decided to run it for me, and I decided a while ago that I don't want to push for an unrealistic time, that I want to just run, and finish the race feeling good. So that's what I'm going to do. This marathon is for me.
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