I have learned over and over again, usually the hard way, why it is important to do things for the right reasons. Many times in the past I made choices for what seemed like good, sound reasons, and yet the experience sucked. Thinking it through afterward, my reasoning for those choices was always screwy.
Garbage in, garbage out. If you do something for sucky reasons, expect the experience to suck!
Tonight I was thinking about signing up for a half marathon that is coming up later in the year. It seemed logical for me to sign up: after all, I have already been thinking about running that race, plus there’s a nice discount if I sign up early (which happens to expire at midnight!). On the surface, it seemed like a no-brainer to sign up.
Yet I hesitated. Rather than ignoring my misgivings, I wondered, What is this about? As I thought it through, I realized that while it was logical to sign up for this race, I just didn’t really want to.
At least right now.
As I broke it down, here are the pros and cons I found for signing up:
| Reasons for Signing Up | Reasons for Not Signing Up |
| I have been interested in running this race | I am enjoying the freedom of an open calendar |
| It is not for six months, which gives me plenty of time to continue recuperating, and work back up to half-marathon shape | Recent experience gives me pause before jumping into another public race, even six months out |
| The half marathon distance is quite comfortable for me, and does not require excessive time or energy to train for | Not wanting to repeat mistakes of last year: over-training, being inflexible with myself about a race I signed up for |
| Did I mention there’s a discount? Only if I act now! | Signing up for something because it is on discount is not enough… it has to be a hell yes! |
| Not feeling a hell yes! |
All in all, when I checked in with myself (thank you, Inner Guidance), I realized that if I signed up for this race right now, it wouldn’t be for the right reasons. That’s good enough for me!
So I’m passing. At least for the time being.
If I change my mind later, I am sure I will be doing it for the right reasons 🙂