May the least committed win?

"In any relationship, the least committed party wields the most control."

So says my bitter yet philosophical younger brother.

Not where running is concerned. I have great weeks where I fit in 2/3 short speedy 5k runs Monday to Friday  and then a 10 mile long run on Sunday - feeling powerful and fit!

The long run may not have been possible had I not been out three times during the week. In fact, when I don't exercise for a few days on the trot, I get tense, stiff, and the next run is an absolute lung-splitting nightmare. I put it off, and begin to dread it, but by putting it off I control when I have to face it, right?

Once I bite the bullet, it is as if I forget how to run, I am instantly out of breath, heavy, and ready to pack it in after 15 minutes.

Lacking commitment is laziness - I know it..

It's easier to slack off, procrastinate, but eventually forcing yourself out of the door in your best Lycra - you realize how many steps back you just took during that week off.

Ah but that post-exercise rush feels so good ! I vow to be out here again in a day or two..

The easy way out of not achieving a half, or even a full Marathon, this year would be to commit myself less. I would then be in control, wouldn't I? Why wait and see whether I can handle the training, I could throw in the towel now and take control over the end-result immediately.

Bullshit! 

Being in control of my targets this year, is about getting off my ass and getting it done.


"In any relationship, the least committed party wields the most control.". I don't think so. If we control situations passively, not committing, never risking a result, we lose everything in the end.

I prefer:
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."