Committed: Are You? Or Do You Need to Be?

As you may or may not know, I set an objective a while ago, given that this is a milestone birthday year for me.  The objective is around running, and has crystalized into running a 10 km sometime this year.  Originally, my thought was to run a 10 km this fall.  I’ve been toying with the idea, however, of pushing the run date to the spring.  Which I find very interesting.  Why?  Because I’m not 100% sure why I’m wanting to postpone it.

If I take a step back and examine the question at hand, I realize a couple of truths.  First, I’ve found it beyond challenging to establish a consistent training regiment.  I’m getting some training in — and it doesn’t feel consistent enough in any way.  While I’m not aiming for a particular time for the run, it would be nice to have enough training under my belt to finish in a decent amount of time (under 75 minutes would be great!!)  Second, I know that I always do better when I’m running with someone — and I just haven’t been able to actually find someone to run with.  I think I’ve maybe found a running partner in my neighbour — she’s definitely interested — but getting our schedules to coordinate is another matter.  It’s like everywhere I turn, there’s another challenge to consider.  Which brings me to the consideration of my title question:  how committed am I to the idea of running?  And why?  What will it serve?

I know that I love the idea of being able to say that I ran a 10 km as a means of celebrating this milestone birthday.  In addition to being a real marker in that way, it would also allow me to bust a story I’ve got going that I’m not capable of running that distance (so not true, and I’d love to be able to have the concrete evidence).  I’m also discovering that when I run, no matter how far, I do feel better physically, emotionally, mentally.  There’s a way in which running provides an outlet for all sorts of stuff, clearing my head, creating space for health and new thoughts.  It’s a good thing.

Knowing all of this, am I truly committed?  Or do I need to be committed?  I’m thinking “no” to the latter — even if my thought process leads me to the conclusion that I’m not entirely committed to this run (and I haven’t reached that conclusion yet!), being committed doesn’t seem like a necessary course of action.  As I sit with this question, here’s what I’m realizing:  I’m totally committed to doing a run; and I’m not as attached to doing the run this fall.  I actually could leave it until spring, and I’d be okay with that.  Which leads me to a new question:  what do I want to commit to?  And then, what will it take — how will I choose to be — as I move to honour that commitment?

I’ll keep you posted as this evolves for me.  And in the meantime, I want to invite you to consider similar questions related to whatever you’re undertaking in your life right now?  How committed are you to whatever that endeavour is?  And how will you need to be in order to honour that commitment?  Feel free to share your thoughts!  I always love hearing what you have to say.