Tag Archives: confidence

Another Pre-Boilermaker Run

Posted on July 7, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I melted again today, although with no discernible difference in my waistline. However, I did manage to go for a short run and will now attempt a Running Commentary Post.

I had been taking myself all day that it would be a good idea to run, but I was naturally reluctant to do so once I got home. In my defense, heat and humidity! I spent the greater portion of the day feeling sweat pour down my body. Ugh. But the Boilermaker 15K is a mere three days away. I must maintain.

First I called my Mom and Dad. Mom said perhaps I should not run in this weather. Dad thought I might try it and switch to walking if it was too much. Since I only contemplated a short run, I decided to try.

And now I will pause to bring up something that always bothers me: when you say you can’t do something and somebody smugly replies, “Well, not with that attitude.” I have probably alluded to this before, but I will repeat it. Almost every failure I have had, and there have been many, some epic, I have gone into with great confidence. On the other hand, many times I have thought, I probably can’t do this but let me just try. And I do it, surprising myself as well as my detractors.

It should come as no surprise that I succeeded in my attempt to run today. I thought, one mile, fifteen minutes, slow pace. My pace was faster than a 15-minute mile although I made no effort at speed. As I went, I thought 20 minutes might be good. Oh well, maybe 17.

I made it for 20 minutes 31 seconds, 1.49 miles. I suppose I could have made it a full two and a half miles, but I felt pretty pleased with what I did.

Now I have to start worrying about the myriad practical details involved in running the Boilermaker: getting my packet from the Runner’s Expo, which involves finding said Expo; putting on the right clothes the morning of, eating the proper breakfast, getting to the starting line after deciding the best time to get to the starting line, finding a parking space; and through it all hydrating, hydrating, hydrating. I haven’t even mentioned getting to bed at a good time, getting to sleep, and waking up on time. I think there are probably a few things I have forgotten I need to do. I am not even sure I remember how many days there are between Thursday and Sunday.

2 Comments

Posted in humor, personal, running commentary and tagged All Boilermaker All The Time, blog post, blogging, Boilermaker, confidence, hot and humid, running, Utica Boilermaker 15K, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Cluttering Up the Blogosphere

Posted on May 31, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am experiencing a definite Writer’s Block this afternoon. It is Memorial Day. I went for a run this morning during which I had some definite thoughts about what I would write in a blog post today. Now I feel that (a) I am not going to say it right if I try and (b) it probably wasn’t that good of a thing to write about anyways. But isn’t this always the way with me? I have nothing wise or profound to say. I’ll only clutter up the blogosphere.

Now that I say that I begin to have a complete crisis of confidence and think that clutter up the blogosphere is all I do anyways. Then I say to myself, “Oh, quit fishing for compliments.” That is kind of what we are doing when we share our crises of confidence. We seek positive re-enforcement. Sometimes a voice outside oneself is easier to believe, especially when it is something positive.

Oh dear, this is not the post I started out to write. I only wanted one of my usual Why I Can’t Write a Post Today posts. I didn’t mean to get into any of these sticky self-esteem issues. I’ll stop that right now. The fact that I hit Publish every day argues that I have some modicum of self-confidence at least. As for cluttering up the blogosphere (you know, I really like that phrase), I remind myself that there is a lot of room on the internet. There is room for profundity and there is room for foolishness. As I always say, go with your strengths.

I Feel Confident to Hit Publish

Posted on May 6, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m afraid this is going to be a Monday Middle-aged Musing. I tried to write a “real” post (I put it in quotes, because what is this, an optical illusion?), but I am having a failure of confidence. Then I thought, there’s a ripe topic to muse about: confidence.

OK, I just started twice to write a sentence about needing confidence, but erased it because, you guessed it, I had no confidence in it. This happens to writers sometimes. We start to write something and think, “Oh, that’s dumb, nobody wants to read that.” Or, more nicely, “That isn’t quite what we want to say, is it?”

A trick I often employ is to grit my teeth, write it anyways, and don’t show it to anybody (including myself) till later. At that point, sometimes I look at it and say, “What was my problem? This is fine, send it out!” Sometimes I immediately see ways to revise it into something not contemptible. Or a judicious mix of those two responses. And yes, there is the case where I say, “Yikes! What was I thinking? Burn that!” (Of course I don’t actually burn it; safety first.) Surprisingly, that does not happen very often.

With a blog, however, especially a daily blog such as I aspire to, I’m on a constant deadline. Oh, I know, I know, write ahead, then I won’t have that problem. I’m working on it.

For some reason, I write something silly like this, and I don’t mind giving it a quick proof, sometimes reading it to my husband, and sending it out into the world. Why should this be? Ah, that calls for some half-baked philosophy, more suitable for Lame Post Friday (which seems a discouragingly long ways away, incidentally). For now, I simply observe the fact and hit “Publish.”

And I saved the draft of the post I started. I hope to share that with you later in the week.

Mohawk Valley Girl

Tag Archives: confidence

Another Pre-Boilermaker Run

Cluttering Up the Blogosphere

I Feel Confident to Hit Publish

Search

Links