I didn’t want to run this morning.
There is one achievement that has been elusive to me on my running app (Nike Run Club or NRC), the 7 Day Streak. There are a few surprise achievements you can unlock, but they don’t show you what they are until you run them. However, the 7 Day Streak has been staring at me for some time, uncompleted and challenging me to get it done.
I started last week Tuesday with a strong 8-mile run and followed it up with 2 shorter recovery runs on Wednesday and Thursday. At the time I wasn’t thinking much of it, was just logging miles for my next race. Then I had a buddy want to run 6-miles the morning of the 4th and I realized I was over halfway to the 7x Streak.
Which brings us to today. I didn’t want to run this morning because by body is a little sore and stiff from 6 straight days of running, but I finally made it to day 7. After wrapping up this mornings’ intervals, I checked my achievement progress and….
NOTHING.
I didn’t get credit for the 7x Streak. Why didn’t it count? What did I do wrong?
Run 7 times in a WEEK. The week starts on Sunday.
Like most things in life when something goes wrong, I have no-one to blame but myself. Usually it is lack of preparation or due diligence like in this case. Other times it is not explaining the situation correctly to others to allow them to do the job correctly. Either way, it comes back to me.
So what do we do now?
For me, I think of two things.
Extreme Ownership (Book by Jocko Willink) of the situation. This was my fault, so there is no reason to pass the blame around to others. That includes having a bad attitude throughout the day and taking my frustration out on others. Cannot and will not happen.
Can’t Change It (phrase by Hal Elrod). My mistake happened. I put a lot of effort in and ran several days I didn’t want to for what feels like nothing. Of course it wasn’t for nothing, I got a lot of exercise and will power in. I achieved just as much as the silly badge is implying, I just wasn’t given the shiny object at the end. My effort was the same and I am a better person for it. And now I still have a carrot being hung out in front of me to chase it again when I am ready.
‘Can’t Change It’ are the words I go to when something really rough happens. When disappointment high and we want to quit or throw in the towel for the day. It happened, it is in the past, and we all have the option to be happy the very next second of our lives if we choose to. Disappointment and happiness are always a choice, our choice.
While I was disappointed I didn’t get my achievement badge this morning, it immediately gave me something to write about and share when I didn’t have any ideas for today. I can pass a lesson I have already learned on to others.
It didn’t happen today. Oh well, Can’t Change It. Now I get to turn a new page on the day.