I first heard about the Purple Dragon running club from a helpful running store clerk a few months ago. “They post the details on instagram!” He exclaimed. Considering I don’t posses the power of instagram, I humbly asked my then girlfriend, now fiancé, to look them up. However legit they appeared, I wanted to wait until after Boston to run with them just because I wouldn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into. a couple weeks after Boston I decided it was time. I pedaled down early to the rendezvous spot, laced up, locked my bike to the closest tree, asked a nice gentleman to let me chuck my bag into his truck, and I was ready. The plan was to run 15 miles. I didn’t know at what speed, where we were going, or who anyone was. As a stranger, I was taking a leap of faith. Faith that the reward of challenging myself today would surpass the effort.
We started rather slowly. We ran through beautiful Zilker park, made it on 3rd street, ran out towards East Austin, then up North Austin past UT’s campus, back down Congress, and finally back on the hike and bike trail for the last 3 mile push. Eager to make an impression on some fantastic runners I met along the way, I decided to shift into 5th gear for those last 3 miles. Along the way, I met a younger runner, a freshman at UT. We found ourselves at the top of our little pack and I wanted to push him a little to finish strong. At mile 12 I picked it up, made my move, and ran a 5’48”. This basically put me in the ground. My HR soared near max for a few minutes and I was toast. My engine overheated. Dropped like a lead anvil, I fell back.
A week prior, I was confronted with some unexpected news. I had made a mistake at work. A careless error. I wasn’t diligent when the work was tedious, and paid for it. This required a course correction; as politely recommended by my ever supportive and encouraging boss. No one likes hearing that they made a mistake, it’s how you react to it that matters. I fought to write the narrative, my internal dialogue, that this mistake was a gift; An incredible opportunity to remain calm, think positively, and accept this new challenge to correct my foolish ways and grow. I did that. I began dedicating more time outside of work to sharpening my sword. I firmly pressed my nose to and through the grindstone, and I’m happy to say my course is now correct. I’ve leveled-up as a result. That’s not to say I won’t make another mistake, but I’ll now be more practiced to perceive that as the golden opportunity for growth that it is.
In both of the above scenarios if you listened close enough you could hear the high-pitched whine of my ego deflating. I was humiliated being dropped by a faster group of runners, and at work making such a bush-league error. I am delighted to be humbled. Your career and training shouldn’t be an ego massage. Living with one foot in the realm of competence and the other in the chaotic unknown means you will make mistakes. You get to decide how to react to them. Will you perk up at the setback and see it as a challenge for positive change, that you could perhaps draw an even greater good from? Or will you see failure as a negative? A pesky bothersome experience that has happened to you, which you hide from and are discouraged by? You get to choose.
