How an op-ed inspired me to change up my New Year’s routine.
The Washington Post recently asked readers to describe 2020 in one word. The top three responses?: exhausting, lost, and chaotic. Other entries included surreal, heartbreaking, and dumpster fire. While individual experience may vary, it’s clear that we are collectively limping to the 2020 finish line.
But even 2020 will come to an end. Since we’re on the precipice of a fresh start, I am trying to remain hopeful. I’ve always been drawn to resets. New years, new months, new weeks — they’re all opportunities for me to measure progress and reevaluate my goals.
Last year
Characteristically, in December, 2019 I sat down and wrote out resolutions for 2020. Despite the global tumult, many of them were achievable. Did I achieve them all? No. Sometimes it’s the thought that counts.
I was particularly excited to go after certain fitness goals. I had aimed to set a personal record (PR) in the 10 mile. There aren’t as many 10-mile races as there are 10Ks or half marathons, so I reviewed my options and determined where and when I was going to attempt it. I bought a new running log. I put up a poster — yes, some teenage habits die hard — in my bedroom that said “No Days Off”. Was I planning to run 365 days in 2020? Absolutely not. But I thought that if it reminded me to do something small each day like stretch or visualize my race then it was worth the wall real estate.
My race never happened. Like so many other events since March, it was cancelled — a small disappointment in a sea of tragedy. And although attempting the PR would have required only a free Saturday morning and a watch, I never went for it. Subconsciously, I had tethered the achievement to the race, when the two were actually mutually exclusive.
I hadn’t thought much about my lack of a shiny 10 mile PR until an op-ed in the New York Times featuring one of my favorite runners, Sara Hall, last week. The article, entitled She Turned 2020 Misery Into a Breakthrough, chronicles the marathoner’s failure to make the US Olympic team at the start of the year and her bounce back to become the 2nd fastest American at the distance all-time at the end. And to what did she attribute her success? In her words, it’s “finding joy in the mundane”. In the height of quarantine, she raced a half marathon on a treadmill — talk about boring. The op-ed reminded me that when we hear the stories of people who opened a window after a door was shut, that resilience to find new opportunities comes in many forms. Focusing on one day at a time and falling in love with the process is an accomplishment unto itself.
Looking ahead
I’m particularly well-suited to learning lessons from distance runners. While my fitness goals far from resemble that of an Olympic-hopeful, I have a sense of effort and sacrifices they make in pursuit of their goals. The biggest lesson I took from Sara Hall’s story was not about running, but perspective.
I’m not doing my traditional New Year’s Resolutions in 2021. It’s mile 26 of the proverbial 2020 marathon, and it just doesn’t feel right this year. (I guess all of the self-awareness work of the past year has worked.) I do have one resolution intention for 2021, though. I plan to actively embrace the journey, not the destination. I don’t know what that entirely means for me yet… meta, right? But I don’t want to be in the circumstance again where I overlook the work I’ve put in to be ready for an achievement, like a quick 10-miler. Instead, I want to figure out how I can actively separate the process from the goal itself, and celebrate meaningfully along the way.
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