3413: Perseverance (AKA No, It's Not OK To Quit) by Chris Guillebeau on Long-Term Success and Fulfillment

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[00:00:38] This is Optimal Living Daily, Perseverance AKA No, Its Not OK To Quit by Chris Guillebeau of chrisguillebeau.com and I'm Justin Malik. I read to you every day covering happiness, self-care and more. Now let's get right to our next post as we optimize your life.

[00:01:01] Perseverance AKA No, It's Not OK To Quit by Chris Guillebeau of chrisguillebeau.com

[00:01:08] Late Saturday afternoon, I set out to run 20 miles. I'd love to say it was a beautiful run filled with energy and good thoughts, but in reality, it was terrible. After mile one, I was in pain. After mile three, it was worse.

[00:01:22] This was an important training run for the Chicago Marathon I've signed up for in October, and I almost quit. I thought about turning around or walking home or even calling a cab and paying for it with the cash I had put in the bottom of my shoe.

[00:01:36] Instead, I kept going and made it to a golf course where I was evicted on the 15th hole by a security guard in a cart.

[00:01:43] This is private property, he told me. Normally, I would have pointed out the open to the public sign or otherwise protested, but I had no heart for it and agreed to leave.

[00:01:53] I needed mileage however I could get it, so I ran back around the course and out to the street.

[00:01:58] A few miles later, I made it to the airport. Greetings, PDX.

[00:02:03] The airport is like a second home to me, but I'm usually arriving by taxi or train, not on foot.

[00:02:08] I watched the Horizon flights take off toward Boise and Seattle, and I tried to cheer myself with the realization I had made it that far.

[00:02:15] By now, I was at mile 8 or 9, according to RunKeeper, the iPhone app I've been using to track my training.

[00:02:21] Then I made it to the Columbia River, where I climbed to the top of the ridge and kept going.

[00:02:26] Thanks to the golf course detour, I hadn't completely run in one direction, so I turned ahead at mile 11 instead of mile 10.

[00:02:34] Only 9 more miles to go.

[00:02:36] By this point, I was fully committed. No matter what, I'd have to get back home.

[00:02:41] I banded all thoughts of taxis and kept moving forward step by step.

[00:02:46] I ran back to where I had started more than 90 minutes earlier, and it hurt.

[00:02:51] All the way, not every step, but definitely every mile.

[00:02:54] I started walking a bit every few minutes.

[00:02:57] My pace was now more than 10 minutes per mile, slower than I'd prefer under ordinary circumstances.

[00:03:02] But this time, I didn't care.

[00:03:04] All that mattered was, just keep going.

[00:03:07] I finally made it back to my neighborhood and looped around Laurelhurst Park a couple of times,

[00:03:12] each turn more excruciating than the last.

[00:03:15] The final three-tenths of a mile felt like five kilometers.

[00:03:18] I timed my stop for exactly 20 miles, not wanting to go even a tiny bit further.

[00:03:23] It was finally over, so I hobbled into a laughing planet and ordered a lot of food,

[00:03:28] speaking incoherently to the cashier.

[00:03:30] A mango smoothie appeared in front of me, which I sipped while waiting to take home the rest of the order.

[00:03:34] Ten minutes later, I stumbled back to my house and laid down on the floor,

[00:03:39] shivering from the cold, even though it was still warm outside.

[00:03:41] I was dehydrated and felt strangely disoriented.

[00:03:45] Despite burning approximately 2,600 calories, according to Runkeeper, I had no appetite.

[00:03:51] Finally, I got up and finished the smoothie, turning on the water for a hot shower.

[00:03:55] I looked down at the bathroom floor and saw shards of glass everywhere.

[00:03:59] That's odd, I thought.

[00:04:00] Then I remembered I had a glass of water in my hand a few minutes before.

[00:04:04] I must have dropped it, causing it to shatter on the floor, but I had no memory of doing so.

[00:04:09] Oops.

[00:04:10] Dehydration exhaustion must have been kicking in.

[00:04:12] I swept up the shards and hopped in the shower,

[00:04:15] letting the hot water soak into my skin as I slowly began to recover.

[00:04:19] And then, I smiled.

[00:04:21] Yeah, I said out loud to no one.

[00:04:24] I ran 20 miles.

[00:04:26] Part of overcoming is to understand when to quit and when to keep going.

[00:04:31] When you're first learning to run, you want to be careful not to overdo it.

[00:04:34] Your muscles need to be trained and you should be careful to avoid adding on mileage too quickly.

[00:04:39] Any sign of real pain is a good sign to regroup and go slow.

[00:04:44] But after a while, when you really start training for a long race, sometimes it hurts.

[00:04:48] At least for most of us, it's not natural to run for three and a half hours straight.

[00:04:53] There are times when you should back off to prevent injury,

[00:04:55] and there are times you should ignore the pain and keep going.

[00:04:58] When you take on a big challenge and encounter obstacles,

[00:05:01] you tend to encounter a voice in your head that offers you an easy escape.

[00:05:05] Sometimes this voice also comes forth in an opinion offered by well-meaning people in your life.

[00:05:10] Either way, the voice says,

[00:05:12] You don't have to do this.

[00:05:13] It's okay to quit.

[00:05:15] But you know better, right?

[00:05:16] Yes, you do have to do this.

[00:05:18] You may need people in your life who say you should take it easy and not always try so hard.

[00:05:23] But if you know in your heart that you'll be dissatisfied with defeat,

[00:05:26] you owe it to yourself to keep going.

[00:05:29] I hated the first 10 miles this weekend,

[00:05:31] and I continued to struggle through the second 10 miles.

[00:05:34] But later, as I expected, I was glad I did it.

[00:05:38] On Sunday, I stumbled around the house, accomplishing little,

[00:05:41] except trying to remember to stretch.

[00:05:43] As it stands now, I'm not really prepared to run Chicago in October,

[00:05:46] but I'll go for it anyway.

[00:05:48] If it works, it will be because of this run.

[00:05:51] If for some reason it doesn't, I've done everything I could do.

[00:05:55] Whatever.

[00:05:55] I'm glad and have no regrets.

[00:05:58] It doesn't matter if you quit.

[00:06:00] Yes, of course it matters.

[00:06:02] You are a winner, right?

[00:06:04] If so, do what you have to do.

[00:06:06] Avoid the golf course security guard,

[00:06:08] walk as much as you need,

[00:06:09] lie on the bathroom floor if you have to.

[00:06:10] But don't quit.

[00:06:13] Persevere.

[00:06:14] Run the race.

[00:06:15] You'll be happier that you did.

[00:06:21] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:06:23] Perseverance, aka No, It's Not Okay to Quit,

[00:06:26] by Chris Gillibow of chrisgillibow.com,

[00:06:29] and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:07:42] Not okay to quit?

[00:07:43] Unless you're on the verge of heat exhaustion, of course.

[00:07:46] This took me back to third or maybe it was fourth grade

[00:07:50] when I did my first jog-a-thon at school.

[00:07:52] I had never run more than a mile at that point,

[00:07:55] but I was pretty decent at doing a mile.

[00:07:57] My friends were even better,

[00:07:59] and I felt like I needed to keep up during the jog-a-thon.

[00:08:02] So in those couple hours at school for the jog-a-thon,

[00:08:05] I ran seven and a half miles.

[00:08:07] That I regretted.

[00:08:09] I remember the teacher asking me if I was okay

[00:08:11] when we went to class after.

[00:08:13] I was done.

[00:08:14] I ended up running a temperature that night,

[00:08:16] never had legs so sore.

[00:08:18] So yeah, that's the flip side of the coin.

[00:08:20] I think we're old enough now to know

[00:08:21] when we really actually have to quit.

[00:08:24] And you can hear more about running and health

[00:08:26] on my brother's podcast, Optimal Health Daily.

[00:08:28] If you wanna hear more blogs narrated for you in general,

[00:08:31] you can search for Optimal Living Daily

[00:08:32] wherever you're hearing this

[00:08:34] and check out all five of our shows

[00:08:35] where we narrate blogs.

[00:08:36] It'd be great if you subscribe to some of our others too.

[00:08:39] We cover lots of different topics.

[00:08:41] But that'll do it for today.

[00:08:42] Have a great rest of your day,

[00:08:44] and I'll be back tomorrow

[00:08:45] where your optimal life awaits.