Welcome to Coach Maria’s Monday Minute. Let’s talk about following directions.
I had a lesson well learned in the past week. Since May 1, I’ve been racing in the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee. According to the main page, I have until August 31 to go 1000K. If you do the math, it’s about 5.2 miles per day - for four months. Last week, I was in the final countdown to 1000K, counting out mileage daily, averaging way more than 5.2 miles/day because honestly, I was ready to be done. My FEET were ready to be done.
Last Monday, I went out to walk with my trusty sidekick, Merna the Blue Heeler. We hit that 1000K mark and celebrated. I pretended I was crossing a major finish line ala Chariots of Fire. I took pictures with my dog, hobbled inside and logged my mileage.
I woke up on Tuesday morning, checked my results, expecting to see the big green square that told me I was done. But then….NO GREEN SQUARE. I melted into my chair and yelled across the house, “I’m not done!” I started digging around in the FAQ section and there it was! And I quote, “Remember, the finish line is 634.84 miles or 1022 KM. Don’t stop at 1000 KM.” I literally had about a bone-crushing half-marathon to go.
So yet another lesson - re-learned! I was reminded, in a big way, that I need to read directions, read FAQ sections and make sure I know what I’m getting myself into - preferably before starting. For athletes, this bleeds into race registrations (think refunds!), reading the Athlete Guide (what you have to do when), knowing governing body rules (safe racing) and knowing the race course.
Anyone else learned a tough lesson recently? Tell me in the comments!