Well, I really hate admitting this, but I failed. I completely missed the mark. I fell short, flopped, ran aground and blundered. I struck out, tanked, folded and bombed.
Bottom line: (*sniffle*) I gave up on my goal.
This is my story about how to get back on track after falling short
You might remember back, a handful of articles ago, when I was on a mission to run a half marathon. (I’m guessing you can already imagine where this is going when you read the past tense, “was”.) Ha ha ha.
Janson and I have had “run a half marathon” on our bucket list for a handful of years, and we decided that this was the year we would accomplish it. In January, we were hungry for a fresh start and ready to run farther than we had ever run before. Like many individuals that feel that spark of rejuvenation at the beginning of the year, we were determined to accomplish some massive goals.
We started by running three days a week together, at a very forgiving pace. We have never run long distances before, and knowing this would take months to build into, we didn’t want to burn out. So, we started off by running for 10 minutes. We gradually added a couple minutes at a time and were on our way to accomplishing our goal.
Setbacks occurred, but I kept running
About a month into our training session, I began to lose my training buddy. Janson slowly tapered off and soon I was running alone. Not that I could blame him. Deadlines for work approached during that time and the two soccer teams he coaches began to demand many hours each week.
I was already starting to feel the burnout of sticking to a training regimen, and wasn’t sure that I wanted to keep running. However, I decided to hold fast to my motto for the year, “no excuses”. So, I continued to train alone, in the wind, snow and rain, three days a week. I built up my endurance and was so proud on the day that I hit 5 1/2 miles. That was huge for me!!! The longest I had ever run before this year was 3.1 miles (a 5k).
I was counting down the weeks until the race would come in May. Janson said he would “weekend warrior” it and just run the half marathon without any training so he could finally check it off the bucket list. Ha ha ha There’s no way I could do that. So I continued to commit to running and building up my endurance. No excuses.
But then life happened
We had a two week family trip planned and despite my planning and effort to do the full workouts, I was only able to do half of them. Then, when we got home, the sick bug hit our family and lingered for a couple weeks. I made it out to run once or twice, but it wasn’t very productive. As we recovered from our sickness, I was still hopeful to achieve my goal to run a half marathon. I was about three weeks behind in my workouts at this point, but my “no excuse” mindset was determined to start where I was and continue moving forward.
The next day, I woke up ready to go for a shorter run to get back on my path to this goal, but I was derailed again. I woke up with excruciating tooth pain. For anyone who has experienced a very painful tooth in need of a root canal, I sympathize with you! It was a Saturday morning and of course, these things always happen on a weekend when nothing is open. I had to wait it out over the weekend.
By Monday morning, after enduring 2880 of the longest minutes of my life, we were able to get a hold of the endodontist. I was ready to take my tooth out like Tom Hanks when he used an ice skate in “Cast Away”. The pain was worse than having twins by C-section or having my bones come out of my shin. The pain was really really bad. (For those of you who have experienced excruciating tooth pain, can I get an amen?)
So, obviously I couldn’t run on Monday.
“No excuses” right?
What does “no excuses” mean? Doesn’t it mean to never fall short of my goal no matter what? (I’ll follow up on this in a minute.)
Because of this tooth problem, I wasn’t able to exercise at all that week.
Then, I became frustrated, sad and discouraged, and I simply didn’t want to try and run the next week. What was the point, right? I felt too far behind to know how to get back on track after falling short.
Life continued to happen and running was no longer a priority. It never made it onto my calendar, so it didn’t happen.
It has been 36 days since I last went running. Last year, this would have been a very normal statement for me. But this year, it’s a pretty sad sentence.
Like I said. Life happened.
What do you do when you fall short?
What do you do when you attempt to reach a goal and completely fail?
You write an article about it. Ha ha ha.
But seriously, one of the hardest things to figure out is how to get back on track after falling short—especially when you feel like you’ve let yourself down.
I want to thank you for helping me to be better. Thank you for reading my articles and for motivating me to improve each week. Thank you for being my accountability buddy.
Last night, as I was thinking about what to write about today, I felt like I needed to share some of the vulnerabilities of my life. We all fall short at times. That’s what makes us human. That’s what makes life real and interesting and good. These are the experiences that make us stronger and grant us courage to push through to new beginnings. Through failure and loss, we are able to better relate to each other and we learn to have compassion and sympathy for others.
Most times in life we are allowed a clean slate… the opportunity to begin again and figure out how to get back on track. Will we take it? Can we move past our discouragement, frustration, guilt and shortcomings and choose to start where we are, taking one step forward from here?
Coming back to my motto of “no excuses”. What does that mean? Doesn’t it mean to never fall short of my goal no matter what?
That’s not what “no excuses” means
“No excuses” is bigger than a workout, a meal, a bucket list item, or a can of paint. “No excuses” means holding tight to your purpose no matter what. What do you live for? Who do you want to become? What values matter to you? Stick to those things that matter most every single day.
If you value hard work, then there are no excuses for laziness. If you value your family, then there are no excuses for spending quality time with them. If you value your health, then don’t allow yourself excuses for not eating better, sleeping better or exercising consistently. It doesn’t mean you have to go all out every single day. It simply means you will put in an effort for the things that matter most to you…every single day.
When you fail, having no excuses in your life means you will try to be a little better today than you were yesterday. This phrase, “no excuses” also means that when you fall short, you give yourself grace. Boy, do I need grace. It means that we stop making excuses for ourselves when we are discouraged, sad and frustrated. To get back on track, we pick ourselves up, start where we are and continue to move forward.
You are doing better than you think you are
In preparing to write this article, I have realized that it’s time to let go of my frustration and discouragement for falling short. It has held me back from moving forward in any capacity. I need to accept the fact that I failed to reach the milestones I hoped to hit, and I won’t be able to run the half marathon by the date that I had anticipated. It was my own expectations and time limitations that loaded unnecessary pressures into my life, and it’s time to hit the reset button.
Get back on track one step at a time
This morning, my alarm was set, my workout clothes were out, and my tennis shoes were by the door. I woke up, with a fresh perspective, and a willingness to let go of where I once was so that I could begin to move forward again.
Now, I am back to day one, but it feels great to be heading in the direction that I want to go. I want to run to be healthy. I don’t care about the time or the speed, but I’m just going to focus on consistency. I’m approaching this half marathon goal differently this time. I am not setting a date for it yet. I’m going to plan to run it sometime in the fall but I want to be flexible with my schedule while the kids are out for the summer. I love spending time with them and want to make them a priority.
Since distance running is a really tough goal for me to even want to obtain, I think by letting go of the rigidity of the workout plan, and focusing more on running consistently (even if it’s not very far or very fast), it will help me to look forward to running and I’ll be able to see this goal in a different way. That mindset shift is teaching me how to get back on track—with flexibility, patience, and purpose.
When you fail, life offers you a chance to start again with a new perspective. That’s how I’ve learned how to get back on track after falling short—with grace and a fresh mindset.
Quote to ponder
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” -Nelson Mandela
Question to consider
When was the last time that you set a goal for yourself and you failed to reach it?
What did you learn from it?
Click on the links below to learn more about how to get back on track after falling short
Believe in the Impossible – Tony Hawk: Skateboarding legend, Tony Hawk, shows that with persistence, belief and grit, you can believe in the impossible-and achieve it!
Mindset Minute Video – Failure Leads to Success: Ballroom dancer, Zaida Adams demonstrates that when we experience failure we can work hard and keep trying until we are successful.