Take the wrong way

Aug 2 | Written By Kelby Dover

Take the wrong way

One of my favorite things to do when I mentally feel I’m at the end of what I’m capable of during a run is take the wrong road. When I was running yesterday, I set out to run 10 miles for the first time since my ankle recovery.

When I was at mile 8.5, I had to make a decision. I felt like I wanted to be finished and my body couldn’t make it to 10 miles. I started to convince myself that I can go straight home and no one would think any less of me. No one else would even know that I didn’t reach my goal. They would just see that I ran 9.25 miles on Strava. But deep down I knew I would be letting myself down.

10 miles is nothing compared to what I’ve done in the recent past and I knew the struggle I was feeling was just mental. I’ve been here before and I can make 10 right now. So I pulled my favorite trick on myself… I took a left and took the wrong road. When I made that turn and added that .75 mile distance to my run, it’s how I force myself to push myself past the limits my mind is telling me I can do. After I force myself to take the wrong turn, I either have to keep going or wave the white flag and turn around. Even if I turned around, no one would know and no one would care. But I would. And I knew I could go further. It sucks to play mind tricks on myself and take the wrong way, but sometimes it’s the only way to push past the wall.